BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


MARY  AND  I. 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  Sioux. 


BY 


STEPHEN  R.  RIGGS,  D.D.,  LL  D., 

Missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M;  and  Author  of 

"  Dakota  Grammar  and  Dictionary,"  and 

"  Gospel  Among  the  Dakotas,"  etc. 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 

BY 

REV.  S.  C.  BARTLETT,  D.D., 

President  of  Dartmouth  College. 


CHICAGO: 
W.   G.    HOLMES, 

77  MADISON  STREET. 


Copyrighted,  March,  1880. 
BY  STEPHEN  R.  RIGOS. 


Blakely,  Brown  &  Manh,  Printer*,  155  and  157  Dearborn  St. 


TO 

MY  CHILDREN, 

ALFRED,  ISABELLA,  MARTHA,  ANNA, 

THOMAS,  HENRY,  ROBERT, 

CORNELIA  AND  EDNA  ; 

Together  with  all  the 

GRANDCHILDREN 

Growing  up  into  the 

MISSIONARY  INHERITANCE 

OF  THEIR  FATHERS  AND  MOTHERS, 

This  Book  is  inscribed, 

By  the  Author. 


PREFACE. 


PREFACE. 


This  book  I  have  INSCRIBED  to  my  own  family. 
be  of  interest  to  them,  as,  in  part,  a  history  of  their  father 
and  mother,  in  the  toils,  and  sacrifices,  and  rewards,  of 
commencing  and  carrying  forward  the  work  of  evangeliz- 
ing the  Dakota  people. 

Many  others,  who  are  interested  in  the  uplifting  of  the 
Red  Men,  may  be  glad  to  obtain  glimpses,  in  these  pages,  of 
the  inside  of  Missionary  Life  in  what  was,  not  long  since, 
the  Far  West;  and  to  trace  the  threads  of  the  inweaving 
of  a  Christ-life  into  the  lives  of  many  of  the  Sioux  nation. 

"Why  don't  you  tell  more  about  yourselves?"  is  a 
question,  which,  in  various  forms,  has  been  often  asked 
me,  during  these  last  four  decades.  Partly  as  the  answer 
to  questions  of  that  kind,  this  book  assumes  somewhat 
the  form  of  a  personal  narrative. 

Years  ago  it  was  an  open  secret,  that  our  good  and 
noble  friend,  SECRETARY  S.  B.  TREAT,  contemplated  a 
History  of  the  American  Board's  Indian  Missions,  as  DR. 
ANDERSON  had  made  of  the  missions  beyond  the  seas. 
When  MR.  TREAT  had  gone  up  higher,  DR.  N.  G.  CLARK 
sent  me  a  note  of  inquiry — could  I  undertake  that  work? 
For  reasons  quite  satisfactory  to  myself,  and  I  presume 
also  to  him,  I  declined.  At  that  time  I  said,  "  The  Da- 


VI  PREFACE. 

kota  mission  is  the  only  one  of  the  American  Board's 
Indian  missions  of  which  I  could  undertake  to  give  a 
history."  The  suggestion  was  a  winged  seed.  By  and 
by,  thought  took  form  and  substance,  and  the  result  is 
this  book. 

While  I  do  not  claim,  even  at  this  evening  time  of  my 
life,  to  be  freed  from  the  desire  that  good  Christian  read- 
ers will  think  favorably  of  this  effort  of  mine,  I  cannot 
expect  that  the  appreciation  with  which  my  Dakota  Gram- 
mar and  Dictionary  was  received,  by  the  literary  world, 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  will  be  surpassed 
by  this  humbler  effort. 

Moreover,  the  chief  work  of  my  life  has  been  the  part 
I  have  been  permitted,  by  the  good  Lord,  to  have  in  giv- 
ing the  entire  Bible  to  the  Sioux  Nation.  This  book  is  only 
"  the  band  of  the  sheaf."  If,  by  weaving  the  principal 
facts  of  our  Missionary  work,  its  trials  and  joys,  its  dis- 
couragements and  grand  successes,  into  this  personal 
narrative  of  "  MARY  AND  I,"  a  better  judgment  of  Indian 
capabilities  is  secured,  and  a  more  earnest  and  intelligent 
determination  to  work  for  their  Christianization  and  final 
Citizenship,  I  shall  be  quite  satisfied. 

Since  the  historical  close  of  "  Forty  Years  with  the 
Sioux,"  some  important  events  have  transpired,  in  con- 
nection with  our  missionary  work,  which  are  grouped 
together  in  an  Appendix,  in  the  form  of  Monographs. 

S.  R.  R. 

Beloit,  Wis.,  January,  1880. 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  churches  owe  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to  their 
missionaries,  first,  for  the  noble  work  they  do,  and,  sec- 
ondly, for  the  inspiring  narratives  they  write.  There  is 
no  class  of  writings  more  quickening  to  piety  at  home 
than  the  sober  narratives  of  these  labors  abroad.  The 
faith  and  zeal,  the  wisdom  and  patience,  the  enterprise 
and  courage,  the  self-sacrifice  and  Christian  peace  which 
they  record,  as  well  as  the  wonderful  triumphs  of  grace 
and  the  simplicity  of  native  piety  which  they  make  known, 
bring  us  nearer,  perhaps,  to  the  spirit  and  the  scenes  of 
Apostolic  times  than  any  other  class  of  literature.  How 
the  churches  could,  or  can  ever,  dispense  with  the  reaction- 
ary influence  from  the  Foreign  Mission  field,  it  is  difficult 
to  understand.  Doubtless,  however,  when  the  harvest  is 
all  gathered,  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  will,  in  his  wisdom, 
know  how  to  supply  the  lack. 

Some  narratives  are  valuable  chiefly  for  their  interest 
of  style  and  manner,  while  the  facts  themselves  are  of 
minor  account.  Other  narratives  secure  attention  by  the 
weight  of  their  facts  alone.  The  author  of  "  Mary  and  I; 
Forty  Years  with  the  Sioux,"  has  our  thanks  for  giving  us 
a  story  attractive  alike  from  the  present  significance  of  its 
theme,  and  from  the  frank  and  fresh  simplicity  of  its 
method. 

It  is  a  timely  contribution.     Thank  God,  the  attention 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  whole  nation  is  at  length  beginning  to  be  turned  in 
good  earnest  to  the  chronic  wrongs  inflicted  on  the  Indian 
race,  and  is,  though  slowly  and  with  difficulty,  comprehend- 
ing the  fact,  long  known  to  the  friends  of  missions,  that  these 
tribes,  when  properly  approached,  are  singularly  accessible 
and  responsive  to  all  the  influences  of  Christianity  and 
its  resultant  civilization.  Slowest  of  all  to  apprehend  this 
truth,  though  with  honorable  exceptions,  are  our  military 
men.  The  officer  who  uttered  that  frightful  maxim,  "  No 
good  Indian  but  a  dead  Indian  " — if  indeed  it  ever  fell 
from  his  lips — needs  all  the  support  of  a  brilliant  and 
gallant  career  in  defense  of  his  country  to  save  him  from 
a  judgment  as  merciless  as  his  maxim.  Such  principles, 
let  us  believe,  have  had  their  day.  They  and  their  de- 
fenders are  assuredly  to  be  swept  away  by  the  rising  tide 
of  a  better  sentiment  slowly  and  steadily  pervading  the 
country.  The  wrongs  of  the  African  have  been,  in  part, 
redressed,  and  now  comes  the  turn  of  the  Indian.  He 
must  be  permitted  to  have  a  home  in  fee  simple,  a  recog- 
nized citizenship,  and  complete  protection  under  a  settled 
system  of  law.  The  gospel  will  then  do  for  him  its 
thorough  work,  and  show  once  more  that  God  has  made 
all  nations  of  one  blood.  He  is  yet  to  have  them.  It  is 
but  a  question  of  time.  And  the  Indian  tribes  are  doubt- 
less not  to  fade  away,  but  to  be  rescued  from  extinction 
by  the  gospel  of  Christ  working  in  them  and  for  them. 

The  reader  who  takes  up  this  volume  will  not  fail  to 
read  it  through.  He  will  easily  believe  that  Anna  Baird 
Riggs  was  "  a  model  Christian  woman," — the  mother  who 
could  bring  up  her  boy  in  a  log  cabin  where  once  the  bear 
looked  in  at  the  door,  or  in  the  log  school-house  with  its 
newspaper  windows, "  slab  benches  "  and  drunken  teacher, 
and  could  train  him  for  his  work  of  faith  and  persever- 


INTBODUTICON.  IX 

ance  in  that  dreary  and  forbidding  missionary  region, 
and  in  what  men  thought  that  forlorn  hope.  And  he  will 
learn — unless  he  knew  it  already — that  a  lad  who  in  early 
life  hammered  on  the  anvil,  can  strike  a  strong  and  steady 
stroke  for  God  and  man. 

The  reader  will  also  recognize  in  the  "  Mary  "  of  this 
story,  now  gone  to  her  rest,  a  worthy  pupil  of  Mary  Lyon 
and  Miss  Z.  P.  Grant.  With  her  excellent  education, 
culture  and  character,  how  cheerfully  she  left  her  home 
in  Massachusetts  to  enter  almost  alone  on  a  field  of  labor 
which  she  knew  perfectly  to  be  most  fraught  with  self- 
sacrifice,  least  attractive,  not  to  say  most  repulsive,  of 
them  all.  How  hopefully  she  journeyed  on  thirteen  days, 
from  the  shores  of  Lake  Harriet,  to  plunge  still  farther 
into  the  wilderness  at  Lac-qui-parle.  How  happily  she 
found  a  "  home  "  for  five  years  in  the  upper  story  of  Dr. 
Williamson's  log  house,  in  a  room  eighteen  feet  by  ten, 
occupied  in  due  time  by  three  children  also.  How  quietly 
she  glided  into  all  the  details  and  solved  all  the  difficulties 
of  that  primitive  life,  bore  with  the  often  revolting  habits 
of  the  aborigines,  taught  their  boys  English,  and  perse- 
vered and  persisted  till  she  had  taught  their  women  "  the 
gospel  of  soap."  How  bravely  she  bore  up  in  that  terrible 
midnight  flight  from  Hazelwood,  and  the  long  exhausting 
journey  to  St.  Paul,  through  the  pelting  rains  and  wet 
swamp-grass,  and  with  murderous  savages  upon  the  trail. 
But  it  was  the  chief  test  and  glory  of  her  character  to 
have  brought  up  a  family  of  children,  among  all  the  sur- 
roundings of  Indian  life,  as  though  amid  the  homes  of 
civilization  and  refinement.  All  honor  to  such  a  woman, 
wife  and  mother.  Her  children  rise  up  and  call  her 
blessed.  Forty-one  years  after  her  departure  from  the 
station  at  Lake  Harriet,  the  present  writer  stood  upon  the 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

pleasant  shore  where  the  tamarack  mission  houses  had 
long  disappeared,  and  felt  that  this  was  consecrated 
ground. 

The  other  partner  in  this  firm  of  "  Mary  and  I  "  needs 
no  words  of  mine.  He  speaks  here  for  himself,  and  his 
labors  speak  for  him.  His  Dakota  Dictionary  and  Bible 
are  lasting  monuments  of  his  persevering  toil,  while  eleven 
churches  with  a  dozen  native  preachers  and  eight  hundred 
members,  and  a  flourishing  Dakota  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety, bear  witness  to  the  Christian  work  of  himself  and  his 
few  co-laborers.  "Forty  Years  Among  the  Sioux,"  he  writes. 
"  Forty  Years  in  the  Turkish  Empire,"  was  the  story  of 
Dr.  Goodell.  Fifty  Years  in  Ceylon,  was  the  life-work 
of  Levi  Spalding.  What  records  are  these  of  singleness 
of  aim,  of  energy,  of  Christian  work,  and  of  harvests  gath- 
ered and  gathering  for  the  Master.  Would  that  such  a 
holy  ambition  might  be  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  many 
other  young  men  as  they  read  these  pages.  How  invig- 
orating the  firm  assurance:  "During  the  years  of  my 
preparation  there  never  came  to  me  a  doubt  of  the  right- 
ness  of  my  decision.  At  the  end  of  forty  years'  work  I 
am  abundantly  satisfied  with  the  way  in  which  the  Lord 
has  led  me."  How  many  of  those  who  embark  in  other 
lines  of  life  and  action  can  say  the  same  ? 

And  how  signally  was  the  spirit  of  the  parents  trans- 
mitted to  the  children.  Almost  a  whole  family  in  the 
mission  work :  six  sons  and  daughters  among  the  Dakotas, 
the  seventh  in  China.  I  know  not  another  instance  so 
marked  as  this.  And  what  a  power  for  good  to  the  Da- 
kota race,  past,  present  and  future,  is  gathered  up  in  one 
undaunted,  single-hearted  family  of  Christian  toilers.  A 
part  of  this  family  it  has  been  the  writer's  privilege  to 
know,  and  of  two  of  the  sons  he  had  the  pleasure  to  be 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

the  teacher  in  the  original  tongues  of  the  word  of  God. 
And  he  deems  it  an  additional  pleasure  and  privilege 
thus  to  connect  his  name  with  theirs  and  their  mission. 
For  not  alone  the  dusky  Dakotas,  but  all  the  friends  of 
the  Indian  tribes  and  lovers  of  the  Missionary  cause,  are 
called  on  to  honor  the  names  of  Pond,  Williamson,  and 
RIGGS. 

S.  C.  BARTLETT. 
Dartmouth  College. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

1837.— Our  Parentage.— My  Mother's  Bear  Story.— Mary's  Educa- 
tion.— Her  First  School  Teaching. — School  Houses  and 
Teachers  in  Ohio. — Learning  the  Catechism. — -Ambitions. — 
The  Lord's  Leading — Mary's  Teaching  in  Bethlehem.— Life 
Threads  Coming  Together. — Licensure. — Our  Decision  as  to 
Life  Work.— Going  to  New  England.— The  Hawley  Family. 
— Marriage. — Going  West. — From  Mary's  Letters. — Mrs.  Isa- 
bella Burgess.— "  Steamer  Isabella."— At  St.  Louis.— The 
Mississippi. — To  the  City  of  Lead. — Rev.  Aratus  Kent.— The 
Lord  Provides  — Mary's  Descriptions. — Upper  Mississippi. — 
Reaching  Fort  Snelling 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

1837.— First  Knowledge  of  the  Sioux. — Hennepin  and  Du  Luth. — 
Fort  Snelling.— Lakes  Harriet  and  Calhoun.— Three  Months 
at  Lake  Harriet. — Samuel  W.  Pond. — Learning  the  Lan- 
guage.— Mr.  Stevens. — Temporary  Home. — That  Station 
Soon  Broken  Up.— Mary's  Letters.— The  Mission  and  People. 
—Native  Customs.— Lord's  Supper.—"  Good  Voice."--Descrip- 
tion  of  our  Home.— The  Garrison.— Seeing  St.  Anthony.— 
Ascent  of  the  Saint  Peters.— Mary's  Letters.— Traverse  des 
Sioux. — Prairie  Traveling. — Reaching  Lac-qui-parle.— T.  S. 
Williamson.— A  Sabbath  Service.— Our  Upper  Room.— 
Experiences. — Church  at  Lac-qui-parle.— Mr.  Pond's  Mar- 
riage.— Mary's  Letters.— Feast 16 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

CHAPTER  III. 

1837-1839.— The  Language.— Its  Growth.— System  of  Notation.— 
After  Changes. — What  we  Had  to  Put  into  the  Language. — 
Teaching  English,  and  Teaching  Dakota. — Mary's  Letter. — 
Fort  Renville. — Translating  the  Bible. — The  Gospels  of  Mark 
and  John. — "Good  Bird"  Born. — Dakota  Names. — The  Les- 
sons we  Learned. — Dakota  Washing. — Extracts  from  Letters. 
— Dakota  Tents. — A  Marriage.- -Visiting  the  Village. — Girls, 
Boys  and  Dogs. — G.  H.  Pond's  Indian  Hunt. — Three  Families 
Killed.— The  Village  Wail.— The  Power  of  a  Name.— Post- 
Office  Far  Away.— The  Coming  of  the  Mail.— S.  W.  Pond 
Comes  Up.— My  Visit  to  Snelling. — Lost  My  Horse. — Dr. 
Williamson  Goes  to  Ohio. — The  Spirit's  Presence. — Prayer. 
—Mary's  Reports 35 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1838-1840.— u  Eagle  Help."— His  Power  as  War  Prophet.— Makes 
No-Flight  Dance. — We  Pray  Against  It. — Unsuccessful  on 
the  War  Path.— Their  Revenge.— Jean  Nicollet  and  J.  C. 
Fremont. — Opposition  to  Schools.— Progress  in  Teaching. — 
Method  of  Counting.— "Lake  that  Speaks."— Our  Trip  to 
Fort  Snelling. — Incidents  of  the  Way.— The  Changes  There. 
— Our  Return  Journey. — Birch  Bark  Canoe. — Mary's  Story. — 
"  Le  Grand  Canoe." — Baby  Born  on  the  Way. — Walking  Ten 
Miles. — Advantages  of  Travel.— My  Visit  to  the  Missouri 
River.— "Fort  Pierre."— Results 53 

CHAPTER  V. 

1840 — 1843. — Dakota  Braves. — Simon  Anawangrnane. — Mary's 
Letter.— Simon's  Fall. — Maple  Sugar. — Adob.3  Church. — 
Catharine's  Letter.— Another  Letter  of  Mary's.— Left  Hand's 
Case.— The  Fifth  Winter.— Mary  to  her  Brother.— The 
Children's  Morning  Ride. — Visit  to  Hawley  and  Ohio. — 
Dakota  Printing. — New  Recruits. — Return. — Little  Rapids. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

— Traverse  cles    Sioux. — Stealing    Bread. — Forming  a  New 

Station. — Begging. — Opposition. — Thomas     L.    Longley. — 

Meeting  Ojibwas.— Two  Sioux  Killed.— Mary's  Hard  Walk. 

65 

CHAPTER  VI. 

1843-1846.— Great  Sorrow.— Thomas  Drowned.— Mary's  Letter.— 
The  Indians'  Thoughts.— Old  Grey-Leaf.— Oxen  Killed.— 
Hard  Field.— Sleepy  Eyes'  Horse.— Indian  in  Prison.— The 
Lord  keeps  us. — Simon's  Shame. — Mary's  Letter. — Robert 
Hopkins  and  Agnes. — Le  Bland. — White  Man  Ghost. — Ben- 
nett.— Sleepy  Eyes'  Camp. — Drunken  Indians. — Making 
Sugar.— Military  Company. — Dakota  Prisoners. — Stealing 
Melons. — Preaching  and  School.— A  Canoe  Voyage. —  Red 
Wing 80 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1846-1851. — Returning  to  Lac-qui-parle. — Reasons  Therefor. — 
Mary's  Story.—"  Give  me  my  Old  Seat,  Mother."— At  Lac. 
qui-parle. — New  Arrangements. — Better  Understanding. — 
Buffalo  Plenty.— Mary's  Story.— Little  Samuel  Died.— Going 
on  the  Hunt.— Vision  of  Home. — Building  House. — Dakota 
Camp. — Soldiers'  Lodge. — Wakanmane's  Village. — Making 
a  Presbyttry.— New  Recruits. — Meeting  at  Kaposia. — Mary's 
gtory ._yaried  Trials.— Sabbath  Worship.— "  What  is  to 
Die?"— New  Stations.— Making  a  Treaty.— Mr.  Hopkins 
Drowned.— Personal  Experience 99 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1851-1854. — Grammar  and  Dictionary. — How  it  grew. — Publica- 
tion.— Minnesota  Historical  Society. — Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion.—Going  East. — Mission  Meeting  at  Traverse  de  Sioux. — 
Mrs.  Hopkins. — Death's  Doings.— Changes  in  the  Mode  of 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Writing  Dakota.— Completed  Book.— Growth  of  Ihe  Lan- 
guage.— In  Brooklyn  and  Philadelphia. — The  Misses 
Spooner.— Changes  in  the  Mission. — The  Ponds  and  Oth- 
ers Retire. — Dr.  Williamson  at  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze. — Winter 
Storms.— Andrew  Hunter. — Two  Families  Left.— Children 
Learning  Dakota. — Our  House  burned. — The  Lord  Pro- 
vides  117 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1854-1856.— Simon  Anawangmane.— Rebuilding  after  the  Fire. 
— Visit  of  Secretary  Treat. — Change  of  Plan. — Hazelwood 
Station. — Circular  Saw-Mill. — Mission  Buildings. — Chapel. 
— Civilized  Community. — Making  Citizens. — Boarding 
School. — Educating  our  own  Children. — Financial  Difficul- 
ties.—The  Lord  Provides.— A  Great  Affliction.— Smith  Bur- 
gess Williamson. — "Aunt  Jane." — Bunyan's  Pilgrim  in 
Dakota..  ..129 


CHAPTER  X. 

1857-1861. — Spirit  Lake. — Massacres  by  Inkpadoota. — The  Cap- 
tives.— Delivery  of  Mrs.  Marble  and  Miss  Gardner. — Excite- 
ment.— Inkpadoota's  Son  Killed. — U.  S.  Soldiers. — Maj. 
Sherman. — Indian  Councils. — Great  Scare. — Going  Away. — 
Indians  Sent  after  Scarlet  End. — Quiet  Restored. — Children 
at  School. — Quarter-Century  Meeting. — John  P.  Williamson 
at  Red  Wood.— Dedication  of  Chapel 138 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1861-1862.— Republican  Administration.— Its  Mistakes.— Chang- 
ing Annuities.— Results. — Returning  from  General  Assembly. 
—A  Marriage  in  St.  Paul.— D.  Wilson  Moore  and  Wife.— 
Delayed  Payment. — Difficulty  with  the  Sissetons. — Peace 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

Again. — Recruiting  for  the  Southern  War. — Seventeenth  of 
August,  1862. — The  Outbreak. — Remembering  Christ's  Death. 
— Massacres  Commenced. — Capt.  Marsh's  Company. — Our 
Flight. — Reasons  Therefor.— Escape  to  an  Island. — Final 
Leaving. — A  Wounded  Man.— Traveling  on  the  Prairie. — 
Wet  Night.— Taking  a  Picture.— Change  of  Plan.— Night 
Travel. — Going  around  Fort  Ridgely. — Night  Scares. — Safe 
Passage.— Four  Men  Killed.— The  Lord  Leads  Us.— Sab- 
bath.— Reaching  the  Settlements. — Mary  at  St.  Anthony. 

..147 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1862. — Gen.  Sibley's  Expedition. — I  Go  as  Chaplain. — At  Fort 
Ridgely.— The  Burial  Party.— Birch  Coolie  Defeat.— Simon 
and  Lorenzo  Bring  in  Captives. — March  to  Yellow  Medicine. 
— Battle  of  Wood  Lake. — Indians  Flee. — Camp  Release. — 
A  Hundred  Captives  Rescued. — Amos  W.  Huggins  Killed. — 
We  Send  for  His  Wife  and  Children.— Spirit  Walker  has 
Protected  Them. — Martha's  Letter 164 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1862-1863.— Military  Commission. — Excited  Community. — Da- 
kotas  Condemned.— Moving  Camp. — The  Campaign  Closed. — 
Findings  sent  to  the  President.— Reaching  my  Home  ia  St. 
Anthony.— Distributing  Alms  on  the  Frontier.— Recalled  to 
Mankato.— The  Executions. —Thirty-eight  Hung.— Difficulty 
of  Avoiding  Mistakes. — Round  Wind.— Confessions. — The 
next  Sabbath's  Service.— Dr.  Williamson's  Work.— Learning 
to  Read. — The  Spiritual  Awakening.— The  Way  it  Came. — 
Mr.  Pond  Invited  up. — Baptisms  in  the  Prison.— The  Lord's 
Supper. — The  Camp  at  Snelling.— A  like  Work  of  Grace. — 
John  P.  Williamson.— Scenes  in  the  Garret.— One  Hundred 
Adults  Baptized.— Marvelous  in  our  Eyes 179 


CONTENTS.  XV11 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

1863-1866. — The  Dakota  Prisoners  taken  to  Davenport.— Camp 
McClellan.— Theii  Treatment.— Great  Mortality.— Education 
in  Prison. — Worship. — Church  Matters. — The  Camp  at  Snel- 
ling  Removed  to  Crow  Creek. — John  P.  Williamson's  Story. 
— Many  Die. — Scouts'  dump. — Visits  to  Them. — Family 
Threads. — Revising  the  New  Testament. — Educating  Our 
Children.— Removal  to  Beloit.— Family  Matters.— Little  Six 
and  Medicine  Bottle. — With  the  Prisoners  at  Davenport. 

193 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1866-1869. — Prisoners  meet  their  Families  at  the  Niobrara. — 
Our  Summer's  Visitation.— At  the  Scouts'  Camp.— Crossing 
the  Prairie.— Killing  Buffalo.— At  Niobrara.  — Religious 
Meetings.  —  Licensing  Natives. — Visiting  the  Oinahas. — 
Scripture  Translating. — Sisseton  Treaty  at  Washington. — 
Second  visit  to  the  Santees. — Artemas  and  Titus  Ordained. — 
Crossing  to  the  Head  of  the  Coteau.— Organizing  Churches 
and  Licensing  Dakotas.— Solomon,  Robert,  Louis,  Daniel. — 
On  Horseback  in  1868.— Visit  to  the  Santees,  Yanktons,  and 
Brules.— Gathering;:  at  Dry  Wood.— Solomon  Ordained. — 
Writing  "  Takoo  Wakan." — Mary's  Sickness. — Grand  Hymns. 
—Going  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow.— Death ! 203 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

1869-1870.— Home  Desolate.— At  the  General  Assembly.— Sum- 
mer Campaign. — A.  L.  Riggs. — His  Story  of  Early  Life. — 
Inside  View  of  Missions.— Why  Missionaries'  Children 
Become  Missionaries.— No  Constraint  Laid  on  Them. — A. 
L.  Riggs  Visits  the  Missouri  Sioux. — Up  the  River. — The 
Brules. — Cheyenne  and  Grand  River. — Starting  for  Fort 
Wadsworth. — Sun  Eclipsed. — Sisseton  Reserve. — Deciding  to 
Build  there. — In  the  Autumn  Assembly. — My  Mother's 
Home. — Winter  Visit  to  Santee. — Julia  La  Framboise.  217 


XV111  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

1870-1871.— Beloit  Home  Broken  up.— Building  on  the  Sisseton 
Reserve. — Difficulties  and  Cost. — Correspondence  with  Wash- 
ington.— Order  to  Suspend  Work. — Disregarding  the  Taboo. 
— Anna  Sick  at  Beloit. — Assurance. — Martha  Goes  in  Anna's 
Place. — The  Dakota  Churches. — Lac-qui-parle,  Ascension.— 
John  B.  Renville. — Daniel  Renville. — Houses  of  Worship. — 
Eight  Churches. — The  "  Word  Carrier." — Annual  Meeting  on 
the  Big  Sioux.— Homestead  Colony. — How  it  Came  about. — 
Joseph  Iron  Old  Man. — Perished  in  a  Snow  Storm. — The 
Dakota  Mission  Divides. — Reasons  Therefor 229 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1870-1873.— A.  L.  Riggs  Builds  at  Santee.— The  Santee  High 
School. — Visit  to  Fort  Sully. — Change  of  Agents  at  Sisseton. 
— Second  Marriage.— Annual  Meeting  at  Good  Will.— Grand 
Gathering. — New  Treaty  Made  at  Sisseton. — Nina  Foster 
Riggs.— Our  Trip  to  Fort  Sully. — An  Incident  by  the  Way.— 
Stop  at  Santee. — Pastor  Ehnarnane. — His  Deer  Hunt. — An- 
nual Meeting  in  1873.— Rev.  S.  J.  Humphrey's  Visit.— Mr. 
Humphrey's  Sketch. — Where  They  Come  From. — Morning 
Call.— Visiting  the  Teepees.— The  Religious  Gathering.— The 
Moderator. — Questions  Discussed.— The  Personnel. — Putting 
Up  a  Tent— Sabbath  Service.— Mission  Reunion 243 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

1873-1874.— The  American  Board  at  Minneapolis.— The  nidus 
of  the  Dakota  Mission.— Large  Indian  Delegation. — Ehna- 
mane  and  Mazakootemane. — "Then  and  Now." — The  Wo- 
man's Meeting. — Nina  Foster  Riggs  and  Lizzie  Bishop. — Miss 
Bishop's  Work  and  Early  Death. — Manual  Labor  Boarding 
School  at  Sisseton. — Building  Dedicated.— M.  N.  Adams, 
Agent. — School  Opened. — Mrs.  Armor  and  Mrs.  Morris. — 
"My  Darling  in  God's  Garden." — Visit  to  Fort  Berthold. — 
Mandans,  Rees  and  Hidatsa.— Dr.  W.  Matthews'  Hidatsa 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

Grammar. — Beliefs.— Missionary  Interest  in  B°rthold. — Down 
the  Missouri. — Annual  Meeting  at  Santee. — Normal  School. 
— Dakotas  Build  a  Church  at  Ascension. — Journey  to  the 
Ojibwas  with  E.  P.  Wheeler. — Leech  Lake  and  Red  Lake. — 
On  theGitche  Gumme.— "The  Stoneys."— Visit  to  Odanah. 
—Hope  for  Ojibwas 261 

CHAPTER  XX. 

1875-1876. — Annual  Meeting  of  1875. — Homestead  Settlement  on 
the  Big  Sioux.— Interest  of  the  Conference.— '-lapi  Oa)^.''— 
Inception  of  Native  Missionary  Work. — Theological  Class.— 
The  Dakota  Home.— Charles  L.  Hall  ordained. — Dr.  Magoun, 
of  Iowa. — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  sent  to  Barthold  by  the  Ameri- 
can Board. — The  "  Word  Carrier's  "  good  words  to  them.— The 
Conference  of  1876.— In  J.  B.  Renville's  Church.— Coming 
to  the  Meeting  from  Sully.— Miss  Whipple's  Story.— "Dakota 
Missionary  Society." — Miss  Collins'  Story. — Impressions  of 
the  Meeting 281 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

1871-1877.— The  Wilder  Sioux.— Gradual  Openings.— Thomas 
Lawrence. — Visit  to  the  Land  of  the  Teetons. — Fort  Sully.— 
Hope  Station. — Mrs.  Gen.  Stanley  in  the  Evangelist. — Work 
by  Native  Teachers. — Thomas  Married  to  Nina  Foster. — 
Nina's  First  Visit  to  Sully. -Attending  the  Conference  and 
American  Board. — Miss  Collins  and  Miss  Whipple. — Bogue 
Station. — The  Mission  Surroundings. — Chapel  Built. — Mis- 
sion Work. — Church  Organized. — Sioux  War  of  1876. — Com- 
munity Excited. — Schools. — "Waiting  for  a  Boat." — Miss 
Whipple  Dies  at  Chicago.— Mrs.  Nina  Riggs'  Tribute.— The 
Conference  of  1877  at  Sully. — Questions  Discussed. — Grand 
Impressions ...298 


XX  CONTENTS, 


APPENDIX. 


MONOGRAPHS. 

MRS.  NINA  FOSTER  RIGGS 316 

REV.  GIDEON  H.  POND 329 

SOLOMON 339 

DR.  T.  S.  WILLIAMSON. 345 

A  MEMORIAL 358 

THE  FAMILY  REUNION 365 


ERRATA. 

Page    36.     The  word  guttural  misspelled. 
"      227.     Frances  spelled  FRANCIS. 


J . 


MARY  AND  I. 

FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX. 


CHAPTER  I. 


1837. — Our  Parentage. — My  Mother's  Bear  Story. — Mary's  Educa- 
tion.— Her  First  School  Teaching. — School  Houses  and 
Teachers  in  Ohio. — Learning  the  Catechism. — -Ambitions. — 
The  Lord's  Leading — Mary's  Teaching  in  Bethlehem.— Life 
Threads  Coming  Together.: — Licensure. — Our  Decision  as  to 
Life  Work. — Going  to  New  England. — The  Hawley  Family. 
— Marriage. — Goiug  West. — From  Mary's  Letters. — Mrs.  Isa. 
bella  Burgess.— " Steamer  Isabella"— At  St.  Louis.— The 
Mississippi.— To  the  City  of  Lead.— Rev.  Aratus  Kent.— The 
Lord  Provides  — Mary's  Descriptions. — Upper  Mississippi. — 
Reaching  Fort  Snelling. 

Forty  years  ago  this  first  day  of  June,  1877,  MARY 
and  I  came  to  Fort  Snelling.  She  was  from  the  Old  Bay 
State,  and  I  was  a  native-born  Buckeye.  Her  ancestors 
were  the  Longleys  and  Taylors  of  Hawley  and  Buckland, 
names  honorable  and  honored  in  the  western  part  of 
Massachusetts.  Her  father,  Gen.  Thomas  Longley,  was 
for  many  years  a  member  of  the  General  Court  and  had 
served  in  the  war  of  1812,  while  her  grandfather,  Col. 
Edmund  Longley,  had  been  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 
and  had  served  under  Washington.  Her  maternal  grand- 
father, Taylor,  had  held  a  civil  commission  under  George 


2  MAKY   AND    I. 

the  Third.  In  an  early  day  both  families  had  settled  in 
the  hill  country  west  of  the  Connecticut  River.  They 
were  the  true  and  worthy  representatives  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

As  it  regards  myself,  my  father,  whose  name  was 
Stephen  Riggs,  was  a  blacksmith,  and  for  many  years  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
where  I  was  born.  He  had  a  brother,  Cyrus,  who  was  a 
preacher  in  Western  Pennsylvania;  and  he  traced  his 
lineage  back,  through  the  Riggs  families  of  New  Jersey, 
a  long  line  of  godly  men,  ministers  of  the  gospel  and 
others,  to  *Edward  RL>;gs  who  came  over  from  W^les  in 
the  first  days  of  Colonial  history.  My  mother  was  Anna 
Baird,  a  model  Christian  woman,  as  I  think,  of  a  Scotch 
Irish  family,  which  in  the  early  days  settled  in  Fayette 
County,  Pa.  Of  necessity  they  were  pioneers.  When 
they  had  three  children  they  removed  up  into  the  wild 
wooded  country  of  the  Upper  Allegheny.  My  mother 
could  tell  a  good  many  bear  stories.  At  one  time  she 
and  those  first  three  children  were  left  alone  in  an  unfin- 
ished log  cabin.  The  father  was  away  hunting  food  for 
the  family.  When,  at  night,  the  fire  was  burning  in  the 
old-fashioned  chimney,  a  large  black  bear  pushed  aside 
the  quilt  that  served  for  the  door,  and  sitting  down  on 
his  haunches,  surveyed  the  scared  family  within.  But 
as  God  would  have  it,  to  their  great  relief,  he  retired 
without  offering  them  any  violence. 

Mary's  education  had  been  carefully  conducted.  She 
had  not  only  the  advantages  of  the  common  town  school 

*Heretofore,  we  have  supposed  the  first'progenitor  of  the  Riggs 
Family  in  America  was  MILES;  but  the  investigations  of  Mr.  J. 
H.Wallace,  of  New  York,  show  that  it  was  EDWARD,  who  settled 
in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  about  the  year  1635.  The  name  of  MILES 
comes  in  later.  He  was  the  progenitor  of  one  branch  of  the 
family. 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  6 

and  home  culture,  but  was  a  pupil  of  Mary  Lyon,  when 
she  taught  in  Buckland,  and  afterward  of  Miss  Grant,  at 
Ipswich.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  she  taught  her  first 
school,  in  Williamstown,  Mass.  As  she  used  to  tell  the 
story,  she  taught  for  a  dollar  a  week,  and,  at  the  end  of 
her  first  quarter,  brought  the  $12  home  and  gave  it  to 
her  father,  as  a  recognition  of  what  he  had  expended  for 
her  education. 

T!)  me  it  was  a  joy  to  meetr  the  other  day  in  Chicago, 
Mrs.  Judge  Osborne,  who  was  one  of  the  scholars  in  this 
school,  as  it  was  in  her  father's  family;  and  who  spoke 
very  affectionately  of  Mary  Ann  Longley,  her  teacher. 

Contrasted  with  the  present  appliances  for  education 
in  all  the  towns,  and  many  of  the  country  districts  also, 
the  common  schools  in  Ohio,  when  I  was  a  boy,  were 
very  poorly  equipped.  My  first  school-house  was  a  log 
cabin,  with  a  large  open  fire-place,  a  window  with  four 
lights  of  glass  where  the  master's  seat  was;  on  the 
other  two  sides  a  log  was  cut  out  and  old  newspapers 
pasted  over  the  hole  through  which  the  light  was  sup- 
posed to  come,  and  the  seats  were  benches  made  of  slabs. 
One  of  my  first  teachers  was  a  drunken  Irishman,  who 
often  visited  the  tavern  near  by  and  came  back  to  sleep 
the  greater  part  of  the  afternoon.  This  gave  us  a  long 
play  spell.  But  he  was  a  terrible  master  for  the  remain- 
der of  the  day.  Notwithstanding  these  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  education  we  managed  to  learn  a  good  deal. 
Sabbath-schools  had  not  reached  the  efficiency  they  now 
have;  but  we  children  were  taught  carefully  at  home. 
We  were  obliged  to  commit  to  memory  the  Shorter 
Catechism,  and  every  few  months  the  good  minister  came 
around  to  see  how  well  we  could  repeat  it.  All  through 
my  life  this  summary  of  Christian  doctrine — not  perfect 


4  MARY    AND    I. 

indeed,  and  not  to  be  quoted  as  authority  equal  to  the 
Scriptures,  as  it  sometimes  is — has  been  to  me  of  incal- 
culable advantage.  What  I  understood  not  then,  I  have 
come  to  understand  better  since,  with  the  opening  of  the 
Word  and  the  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  I  were 
a  boy  again,  I  would  learn  the  Shorter  Catechism. 

My  ambition  was  to  learn  some  kind  of  a  trade.  But 
I  had  wrought  enough  with  my  father  at  the  anvil  not  to 
choose  that.  It  was  hard  work,  and  not  over  clean  work. 
Something  else  would  suit  me  better,  I  thought.  About 
that  time  my  sister  Harriet  married  William  McLaughlin, 
who  was  a  well-to-do  harness  maker  in  Steubenville. 
This  suited  my  ideas  of  life  better.  But  that  sister  died 
soon  after  her  marriage,  and  my  father  removed  from 
that  part  of  the  country  to  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 
There  in  Ripley,  a  Latin  school  was  opened  about  that 
time,  and  the  Lord  appeared  to  me  in  a  wonderful  man- 
ner, making  discoveries  of  himself  to  my  spiritual 
apprehension,  so  that  from  that  time  and  onward  my 
path  lay  in  the  line  of  preparation  for  such  service  as  He 
should  call  me  unto.  My  father,  as  he  said  many  years 
afterward,  had  intended  to  educate  my  younger  brother 
James;  but  he  was  taken  away  suddenly,  and  I  came  in 
his  place.  Thus  the  Lord  opened  the  way  for  a  com- 
mencement, and  by  the  help  of  friends  I  was  enabled  to 
continue  until  I  finished  the  course  at  Jefferson  College, 
and  afterward  spent  a  year  at  the  Western  Theological 
Seminary  at  Allegheny. 

MART  had  been  educated  for  a  teacher.  She  was  well 
fitted  for  the  work.  And  while  she  was  still  at  Ipswich, 
a  benevolent  gentleman  in  New  York  City,  who  had 
interested  himself  in  establishing  a  seminary  in  Southern 
Indiana,  sent  to  Miss  Grant  for  a  teacher  to  take  charge 


FORTY    YEAKS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  5 

of  the  school  near  Bethlehem,  in  the  family  of  Rev.  John 
M.  Dickey.  It  was  far  away,  but  it  seemed  just  the 
opening  she  had  been  desiring.  But  a  young  woman 
needed  company  in  traveling  so  far  westward.  It  was 
at  the  time  of  the  May  meetings  in  New  York.  Clergy- 
men and  others  were  on  East  from  various  parts  of  the 
West.  In  several  instances,  however,  she  failed  of  the 
company  she  hoped  for,  by  what  seemed  singular  provi- 
dences. And  at  last,  it  was  her  lot  to  come  West  under 
the  protection  of  Rev.  Dyer  Burgess,  of  West  Union, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Burgess  was  what  was  called  in  those  days, 
"  a  rabid  abolitionist,"  and  had  taken  a  fancy  to  help  me 
along,  because,  as  he  said,  I  was  "  of  the  same  craft." 
And  so  it  was  that  during  his  absence  I  was  living  in  his 
family.  This  is  the  way  in  which  the  threads  of  our  two 
lives,  Mary's  and  mine,  were  brought  together.  A  year 
and  a  half  after  this  I  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel 
by  the  Chillicothe  Presbytery,  and  we  were  on  our  way 
to  her  mountain  home  in  Massachusetts. 

Before  starting  to  New  England,  the  general  plan  of 
our  life-work  was  arranged.  Early  in  my  course  of  edu- 
cation, I  had  considered  the  claims  of  the 'heathen  upon 
us  Christians,  and  upon  myself  personally  as  a  believer 
in  Christ;  and  with  very  little  hesitation  or  delay,  the 
decision  had  been  reached,  that,  God  willing,  I  would 
go  somewhere  among  the  unevangelized.  And,  during 
the  years  of  my  preparation,  there  never  came  to  me  a 
doubt  of  the  rightness  of  my  decision.  Nay,  more,  at 
the  end  of  forty  years'  work,  I  am  abundantly  satisfied 
with  the  way  in  which  the  Lord  has  led  me.  If  China 
had  been  then  open  to  the  gospel,  as  it  was  twenty  years 
afterward,  I  should  have  probably  elected  to  go  there. 


s 


6  MAEY   AND    I. 

But  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Williamson,  of  Ripley,  Ohio,  had 
started  for  the  Dakota  field  the  same  year  that  I  gradu- 
ated from  college.  His  representations  of  the  needs  of 
these  aborigines,  and  the  starting  out  of  Whitman  and 
Spalding  with  their  wives  to  the  Indians  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  attracted  me  to  the  westward.  And  Mary  was 
quite  willing,  if  not  enthusiastic,  to  commence  a  life- 
work  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest,  which  at  that 
time  involved  more  of  sacrifice  than  service  in  many  a 
far-off  foreign  field.  Hitherto,  the  evangelization  of  our 
own  North  American  Indians  had  been,  and  still  is,  in 
most  parts  of  the  field,  essentially  a  foreign  mission  work. 
It  has  differed  little,  except,  perhaps,  in  the  element 
of  greater  self-sacrifice,  from  the  work  in  India,  China  or 
Japan.  And  so,  with  a  mutual  good  understanding  of 
the  general  plan  of  life's  campaign,  with  very  little 
appreciation  of  what  its  difficulties  might  be,  but  with  a 
good  faith  in  ourselves,  and  more  faith  in  Him  who  has 
said,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  days, "  Mary  left  her  school 
in  Bethlehem,  to  which  she  had  become  a  felt  necessity, 
and  I  gathered  up  such  credentials  as  were  necessary  to 
the  consummation  of  our  acceptance  as  missionaries  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, and  we  went  eastward. 

Railroads  had  hardly  been  thought  of  in  those  days, 
and  so  what  part  of  the  way  we  were  not  carried  by 
steamboats,  we  rode  in  stages.  It  was  only  the  day  be- 
fore Thanksgiving,  and  a  stormy  evening  it  was,  when 
we  hired  a  very  ordinary  one-horse  wagon  to  carry  us 
and  our  baggage  from  Charlemont  up  to  Hawley.  I  need 
not  say  that  in  the  old  house  at  home,  the  sister  and  the 
daughter  and  granddaughter  found  a  warm  reception, 
and  I,  the  western  stranger,  was  not  long  overlooked. 


FORTY   TEAKS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  7 

It  was  indeed  a  special  Thanksgiving  and  time  of  family 
rejoicing,  when  the  married  sister  and  her  family  were 
gathered,  with  the  brothers,  Alfred  and  Moses  and 
Thomas  and  Joseph,  and  th^  little  sister  Henrietta,  and 
the  parents  and  grandparents,  then  still  living.  Since 
that  time,  one  by  one,  they  have  gone  to  the  beautiful 
land  above,  and  only  two  remain. 

Well,  the  winter,  with  its  terrible  storms  and  deep 
snows,  soon  passed  by.  It  was  all  too  short  for  Mary's 
preparation.  I  found  work  waiting  for  me  in  preaching 
to  the  little  church  in  West  Hawley.  They  were  a  prim- 
itive people,  with  but  little  of  what  is  called  wealth,  but 
with- generous  hearts;  and  the  three  months  I  spent  with 
them  were  profitable  to  me. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  1837,  there  was  a  great  gath- 
ering in  the  old  meeting-house  on  the  hill ;  and  after  the 
service  was  over,  Mary  and  I  received  the  congratulations 
of  hosts  of  friends.  Soon  after  this  the  time  of  our 
departure  came.  The  snow  drifts  were  still  deep  on  the 
hills,  when,  in  the  first  days  of  March,  we  commenced 
our  hegira  to  the  far  West.  It  was  a  long  and  toilsome 
journey — all  the  way  to  New  York  City  by  stage,  and 
then  again  from  Philadelphia  across  the  mountains  to 
Pittsburgh  in  the  same  manner,  through  the  March  rains 
and  mud,  we  traveled  on,  day  and  night.  It  was  quite  a 
relief  to  sleep  and  glide  down  the  beautiful  Ohio  on  a 
steamer.  And  there  we  found  friends  in  Portsmouth  and 
Ripley  and  West  Union,  with  whom  we  rested,  and  by 
whom  we  were  refreshed,  and  who  greatly  forwarded  our 
preparations  for  life  among  the  Indians. 

Of  the  journey  Mary  wrote  under  date,  City  of  Penn, 
March  3,  1837:  "We  were  surprised  to  find  sleighing 
here,  when  there  was  little  at  Hartford  and  none  at  New 


8  MAKY   AND    I. 

Haven  and  New  York.  \Ve  expect  to  spend  the  Sabbath 
here;  and  may  the  Lord  bless  the  detention  to  ourselves 
and  others.  Oh  for  a  heart  more  engaged  to  labor  by  the 
way — to  labor  any  and  everywhere" 

In  West  Union,  Ohio,  she  writes  from  Anti-Slavery 
Palace,  April  5:  "Brother  Joseph  Riggs  made  us  some 
valuable  presents.  His  kindness  supplied  my  lack  of  a 
good  English  merino,  and  Sister  Riggs  had  prepared  her 
donation  and  laid  it  by,  as  the  Apostle  directs, — one  pair 
of  warm  blankets,  sheets  and  pillow  cases.  My  new 
nieces  also  seemed  to  partake  of  the  same  kind  spirit, 
and  gave  us  valuable  mementoes  of  their  affection. 

"  We  found  Mrs.  Burgess  not  behind,  and  perhaps  be- 
fore most  of  our  friends,  in  her  plans  and  gifts.  Besides  a 
cooking  stove  and  furniture,  she  has  provided  a  fine 
blanket  and  comforter,  sheets,  pillow  cases,  towels,  dried 
peaches,  etc.  Perhaps  you  will  fear  that  with  so  many 
kind  friends  we  shall  be  furnished  with  too  many  com- 
forts. Pray,  then,  that  we  may  be  kept  very  humble  and 
receive  these  blessings  thankfully  from  the  Giver  of  every 
good  and  perfect  gift." 

MRS.  ISABELLA  BURGESS,  the  wife  of  my  friend  Rev. 
Dyer  Burgess,  we  put  into  lasting  remembrance  by  the 
name  we  gave  to  our  first  daughter,  who  is  now  living  by 
the  great  wall  of  China.  By  and  by  we  found  ourselves 
furnished  with  such  things  as  we  supposed  we  should 
need  for  a  year  to  come,  and  we  bade  adieu  to  our  Ohio 
friends,  and  embarked  at  Cincinnati  for  St.  Louis. 

"  STEAMER  ISABELLA,  Thursday  Eve,  May  4. 

"  We   have  been   highly  favored  thus  far  on  our  way 

down  the  Ohio.     We  took  a  last  look  of  Indiana  about 

noon,  and  saw  the  waters  of  the  separating  Wabash  join 

those  of  the  Ohio,  and  yet  flow  on  without  commingling 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  9 

for  ten  or  twelve  miles,  marking  their  course  by  their 
blue  tint  and  purer  shade.  The  banks  are  much  lower 
here  than  nearer  the  source,  sometimes  gently  sloping  to 
the  water's  edge,  and  bearing  such  marks  of  inundation 
as  trunks  and  roots  of  trees  half  imbedded  in  the  sand, 
or  cast  higher  upon  the  shore.  At  intervals  we  passed 
some  beautiful  bluffs,  not  very  high,  but  very  verdant, 
and  others  more  precipitous.  Bold,  craggy  rocks  with 
evergreen  tufted  tops,  and  a  few  dwarf  stragglers  on  their 
sides.  One  of  them  contained  a  cave  apparently  dark 
enough  for  deeds  of  darkest  hue,  and  probably  it  may 
have  witnessed  many  perpetrated  by  those  daring  bandits 
that  prowled  about  these  bluffs  during  the  early  settle- 
ment of  Illinois. 

"Friday  Eve. — This  morning  when  we  awoke,  we 
found  ourselves  in  the  muddy  waters  of  the  broad  Mis- 
sissippi. They  are  quite  as  muddy  as  those  of  a  shallow 
pond  after  a  severe  shower.  We  drink  it,  however,  and 
find  the  taste  not  quite  as  unpleasant  as  one  might  sup- 
pose from  its  color,  though  quite  warm.  The  river  is 
very  wide  here,  and  beautifully  spotted  with  large  islands. 
Their  sandy  points,  the  muddy  waters,  and  abounding 
snags  render  navigation  more  dangerous  than  on  the 
Ohio.  We  have  met  with  no  accident  yet,  and  I  am  un- 
conscious of  fear.  I  desire  to  trust  in  Him  who  rules  the 
water  as  well  as  the  lands." 

"  ST.  Louis,  May  8,  1837. 

"  Had  you  been  with  us  this  morning  you  would  have 
sympathized  with  us  in  our  supposed  detention  from  our 
distant  unfound  home  in  the  wilderness,  when  we  heard 
that  the  Fur  Company's  boat  left  for  Fort  Snelling 
last  week.  You  can  imagine  our  feelings,  our  doubts, 
our  hopes,  our  fears  rushing  to  our  hearts,  but  soon 


10  MARY   AND    I. 

quieted  with  the  conviction  that  the  Lord  would  guide 
us  in  his  own  time  to  the  field  where  he  would  have  us 
labor.  We  feel  that  we  have  done  all  in  our  power  to 
hasten  on  our  journey  and  to  gain  information  in  refer- 
ence to  the  time  of  leaving  this  city.  Having  endeavored 
to  do  this,  we  have  desired  to  leave  the  event  with  God, 
and  he  will  still  direct.  We  now  have  some  ground  for 
hope  that  another  boat  will  ascend  the  river  in  a  week  or 
two,  and  if  so,  we  shall  avail  ourselves  of  the  opportunity. 
Till  we  learn  something  more  definitely  in  regard  to  it, 
we  shall  remain  at  Alton,  if  we  are  prospered  in  reach- 
ing there." 

In  those  days  the  Upper  Mississippi  was  still  a  wild 
and  almost  uninhabited  region,  Such  places  as  Daven- 
port and  Rock  Island,  which  now  together  form  a  large 
center  of  population,  had  then,  all  told,  only  about  a  dozen 
houses.  The  lead  mines  of  Galena  and  Dubuque  had 
gathered  in  somewhat  larger  settlements.  Above  them 
there  was  nothing  but  Indians  and  military.  So  that  a 
steamer  starting  for  Fort  Snelling  was  a  rare  thing.  It 
was  said  that  less  than  half  a  dozen  in  a  season  reached 
that  point.  Indeed,  there  was  nothing  to  carry  up  but 
goods  for  the  Indian  trade  and  army  supplies.  Some 
friends  at  Alton  invited  us  to  come  and  spend  the  inter- 
vening time.  There  we  were  kindly  entertained  in  the 
family  of  Mr.  Winthrop  S.  Gilman,  who  has  since  been 
one  of  the  substantial  Christian  business  men  in  New 
York  City.  On  our  leaving,  Mr.  Gilman  bade  us  "  Look 
Upward,"  which  has  ever  been  one  of  our  Life  Mottoes. 

At  that  time,  a  steamer  from  St.  Louis  required  at  least 
two  full  weeks  to  reach  Fort  Snelling.  It  was  an  object 
with  us  not  to  travel  on  the  Sabbath,  if  possible.  So  we 
planned  to  go  up  beforehand,  and  take  the  up-river  boat 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  11 

at  the  highest  point.  It  might  be,  we  thought,  that  the 
Lord  would  arrange  things  for  us  so  that  we  should  reach 
our  mission  field  without  traveling  on  the  Day  of  Rest. 
With  this  desire  we  embarked  for  Galena.  But  Satur- 
day night  found  us  passing  along  by  the  beautiful  coun- 
try of  Rock  Island  and  Davenport.  In  the  latter  place 
Mary  and  I  spent  a  Sabbath,  and  worshiped  with  a  few 
of  the  pioneer  people  who  gathered  in  a  school-house. 
By  the  middle  of  the  next  week  we  had  reached  the  city 
of  lead.  There  we  found  the  man  who  had  said  to  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  ';  If  you  have  a  place  so  diffi- 
cult that  no  one  wants  to  go  to  it,  send  me'  there."  And 
they  sent  the  veteran,  Rev.  Aratus  Kent,  to  Galena,  Illi- 
nois. 

Some  of  the  scenes  and  events  connected  with  our 
ascent  of  the  Mississippi  are  graphically  described  by 
Mary's  facile  pen: 

"  STEAMBOAT  OLIVE  BRANCH,  May  17. 

"  We  are  now  on  our  way  to  Galena,  where  we  shall 
probably  take  a  boat  for  St.  Peters.  We  pursue  this 
course,  though  it  subjects  us  to  the  inconvenience  of 
changing  boats,  that  we  may  be  able  to  avoid  Sabbath 
traveling,  if  possible.  One  Sabbath  at  least  will  be 
rescued  in  this  way,  as  the  Pamllion,  the  only  boat  for 
St.  Peters  at  present,  leaves  St.  Louis  on  Sunday!  This 
we  felt  would  not  be  right  for  us,  consequently  we  left 
Alton  to-day,  trusting  that  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  would 
speed  us  on  our  journey  of  3,000  miles,  and  enable  us  to 
keep  his  Sabbath  holy  unto  the  end  thereof. 

"  Of  the  scenery  we  have  passed  this  afternoon,  and 
are  still  passing,  I  can  give  you  no  just  conceptions.  It 
beggars  description,  and  yet  I  wish  you  could  imagine 
the  Illinois  shore  lined  with  high  semi-circular  rocks? 


12  MARY   AND   I. 

embosomed  by  trees  of  most  delicate  green,  and  crowned 
with  a  grassy  mound  of  the  same  tint,  or  rising  more  per- 
pendicularly and  towering  more  loftily  in  solid  columns, 
defying  art  to  form  or  demolish  works  so  impregnable, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  grand  and  beautiful.  I  have 
just  been  gazing  at  these  everlasting  rocks  mellowed  by 
the  soft  twilight.  A  bend  in  the  river  and  an  island 
made  them  apparently  meet  the  opposite  shore.  The 
departing  light  of  day  favored  the  illusion  of  a  splendid 
city  reaching  for  miles  along  the  river,  built  of  granite 
and  marble,  and  shaded  by  luxurant  groves,  all  reflected 
in  the  quiet  waters.  This  river  bears  very  little  resem- 
blance to  itself  (as  Geographies  name  it,)  after  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Missouri.  To  me  it  seems  a  misnomer  to 
name  a  river  from  a  branch  which  is  so  dissimilar.  The 
waters  here  are  comparatively  pure  and  the  current  mild. 
Below,  they  are  turbid  and  impetuous,  rolling  on  in  their 
power,  and  sweeping  all  in  their  pathway  onward  at  the 
rate  of  five  or  six  miles  an  hour. 

"Just  below  the  junction  we  were  astonished  and 
amused  to  see  large  spots  of  muddy  water  surrounded 
by  those  of  a  purer  shade,  as  if  they  would  retain  their 
distinctive  character  to  the  last;  but  in  vain,  for  the  les- 
ser was  contaminated  and  swallowed  up  by  the  greater. 
I  might  moralize  on  this,  but  will  leave  each  one  to  draw 
his  own  inferences." 

"  STEPHENSON  (now  Davenport),  May  22. 

"We  left  the  Olive  Branch  between  10  and  11  on 
Saturday  night.  The  lateness  of  the  hour  obliged  us  to 
accept  of  such  accommodations  as  presented  themselves 
first,  and  even  made  us  thankful  for  them,  though  they 
were  the  most  wretched  I  ever  endured.  I  do  not  allude 
to  the  house  or  table,  though  little  or  nothing  could  be 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  13 

said  in  their  praise,  but  to  the  horrid  profanity.  Con- 
nected with  the  house  and  adjoining  our  room  was  a 
grocery,  a  devil's  den  indeed,  and  so  often  were  tne  fre- 
quent volleys  of  dreadful  oaths,  that  our  hearts  grew  sick, 
and  we  shuddered  and  sought  to  shut  our  ears.  Not- 
withstanding all  this,  we  were  happier  than  if  we  had 
been  traveling  on  God's  holy  day.  Our  consciences 
approved  resting  according  to  the  commandment,  though 
they  did  not  chide  for  removing,  even  on  the  Sabbath,  to 
a  house  where  God's  name  is  not  used  so  irreverently — 

so  profanely." 

"  GALENA,  May  23. 

"  This  place,  wild  and  hilly  as  it  is,  we  reached  this 
afternoon,  and  have  been  very  kindly  received  by  some 
Yankee  Christian  friends,  where  we  feel  ourselves  quite 
at  home,  though  only  inmates  of  this  hospitable  mansion 
a  few  hours.  Surely  the  Lord  has  blessed  us  above 
measure  in  providing  warm  Christian  hearts  to  receive 
us.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fuller,  where  we  are,  supply  the  place 
of  the  Gilmans  of  Alton.  We  hope  to  leave  in  a  day  or 
two  for  Fort  Snelling." 

"GALENA,  ILL.,  May  25,  1837. 

"  A  kind  Providence  has  so  ordered  our  affairs  that  we 
are  detained  here  still,  and  I  hope  our  stay  may  promote 
the  best  interests  of  the  mission.  It  seems  desirable 
that  Christians  in  these  villages  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 
should  become  interested  in  the  missionaries  and  the 
missions  among  the  northern  Indians,  that  their  preju- 
dices may  be  overcome  and  their  hearts  made  to  feel  the 
claims  those  dark  tribes  have  upon  their  sympathies, 
their  charities  and  their  prayers." 

"  STEAMER  PAYILLION — UPPER  MISSISSIPPI,  May  31. 
"We  are  this  evening   (Wednesday)  more  than  100 
miles  above  Prairie  du  Chien,  on  our  way  to  St.  Peters, 


14  MARY   AND    I. 

which  we  hope  to  reach  before  the  close  of  the  week, 
that  we  may  be  able  to  keep  the  Sabbath  on  shore.  You 
will  rejoice  with  us  that  we  have  been  able,  in  all  our 
journey  of  3,000  miles,  to  rest  from  traveling  on  the  Sab- 
bath. Last  Saturday,  however,  our  principles  and  feel- 
ings were  tried  by  this  boat,  for  which  we  had  waited 
three  weeks,  and  watched  anxiously  for  the  last  few  days, 
fearing  it  would  subject  us  to  Sabbath  traveling.  Sat 
urday  eve,  after  sunset,  when  our  wishes  had  led  us  to 
believe  it  would  not  leave,  if  it  should  reach  Galena 
until  Monday,  we  heard  a  boat,  and  soon  our  sight  con- 
firmed our  ears.  Mr.  Riggs  hastened  on  board  and 
ascertained  from  the  captain  that  he  should  leave  Sab- 
bath morning.  The  inquiry  was,  shall  we  break  one 
command  in  fulfilling  .another?  We  soon  decided  that 
it  was  not  our  duty  to  commence  a  journey  under  these 
circumstances  even,  and  retired  to  rest,  confident  the 
Lord  would  provide  for  us.  Notwithstanding  our  pros- 
pects were  rather  dark,  I  felt  a  secret  hope  that  the  Lord 
would  detain  the  Pamllion  until  Monday.  If  I  had  any 
faith  it  was  very  weak,  for  I  felt  deeply  conscious  we 
were  entirely  undeserving  such  a  favor.  But  judge  of 
•our  happy  surprise,  morning  and  afternoon,  on  our  way  to 
and  from  church,  to  find  the  Pamllion  still  at  the  wharf. 
We  felt  that  it  was  truly  a  gracious  providence.  On 
Monday  morning  we  came  on  board." 

This  week  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  was  one  of  quiet 
joy.  We  had  been  nearly  three  months  on  our  way  from 
Mary's  home  in  Massachusetts.  God  had  prospered  us 
all  the  way.  Wherever  we  had  stopped  we  had  found 
or  made  friends.  The  Lord,  as  we  believed,  had  signally 
interfered  in  our  behalf,  and  helped  us  to"  Remember  the 
Sabbath  day,"  and  to  give  our  testimony  to  its  sacred 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  15 

observance.  The  season  of  the  year  was  inspiring.  A 
resurrection  to  new  life  had  just  taken  place.  All  exter- 
nal nature  had  put  on  her  beautiful  garments.  And  day 
after  day, — for  the  boat  tied  up  at  night, — we  found  our- 
selves passing  by  those  grand  old  hills  and  wonderful 
escarpments  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  We  were  in  the 
wilds  of  the  West,  beyond  the  cabins  of  the  pioneer.  We 
were  passing  the  battle  fields  of  Indian  story.  Nay,  more, 
we  were  already  in  the  land  of  the  Dakotas,  and  passing 
by  the  teepees  and  the  villages  of  the  Red  man,  for  whose 
enlightenment  and  elevation  we  had  left  friends  and 
home.  Was  it  strange  that  this  was  a  week  of  intense 
enjoyment,  of  education,'  of  growth  in  the  life  of  faith 
and  hope?  And  so,  as  I  said  in  the  beginning,  on  the 
first  day  of  June,  1837,  Mary  and  I  reached,  in  safety, 
the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota,  in  the  land  of  the  Dako- 
tas. 


16  MARY    AND    I. 


CHAPTER   II. 

1837. — First  Knowledge  of  the  Sioux. — Hennepin  and  Du  Luth. — 
Fort  Snelling. — Lakes  Harriet  and  Calhoun. — Three  Months 
at  Lake  Harriet. — Samuel  W.  Pond. — Learning  the  Lan- 
guage.— Mr.  Stevens. — Temporary  Home. — That  Station 
Soon  Broken  Up.— Mary's  Letters. — The  Mission  and  People. 
Native  Customs. — Lord's  Supper. — "  Good  Voice." — Descrip- 
tion of  our  Home. — The  Garrison. — Seeing  St.  Anthony. — 
Ascent  of  the  Saint  Peters. — Mary's  Letters. — Traverse  des 
Sioux — Prairie  Traveling. — Reaching  Lac-qui-parle.  — T .  S. 
Williamson. — A  Sabbath  Service. — Our  Upper  Room. — 
Experiences. — Church  at  Lac-qui-parle. — Mr.  Pond's  Marri- 
age.— Mary's  Letters. — Feast. 

About  two  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  the  French 
voyagers  and  fur  traders,  as  they  came  from  Nouvelle, 
France,  up  the  Saint  Lawrence  and  the  Great  Lakes, 
began  to  hear,  from  Indians  farther  east,  of  a  great 
and  warlike  people,  whom  they  called  NADOUWE  or 
NADOWAESSI,  enemies.  Coming  nearer  to  them,  both 
trader  and  priest  met,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior 
representatives  of  this  nation,  "  numerous  and  fierce, 
always  at  war  with  other  tribes,  pushing  northward  and 
southward  and  westward,"  so  that  they  were  sometimes 
called  the  "  Iroquois  of  the  West." 

But  really  not  much  was  known  of  the  Sioux  until  the 
summer  of  1680,  when  Hennepin  and  Da  Luth  met  in  a 
camp  of  Dakotas,  as  they  hunted  buffalo  in  what  is  now 
northwestern  Wisconsin.  Hennepin  had  been  captured 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  17 

by  a  war-party,  which  descended  the  Father  of  waters  in 
their  canoes,  seeking  for  scalps  among  their  enemies,  the 
Miamis  and  Illinois.  They  took  him  and  his  companions 
of  the  voyage  up  to  their  villages  on  the  head  waters  of 
Rum  River,  and  around  the  shores  of  Mille  Lac  and  Knife 
Lake.  From  the  former  of  these  the  eastern  band  of  the 
Sioux  nation  named  themselves  Mdaywakantonwan, 
Spirit  Lake  Villagers'  and  from  the  latter,  they  inherited 
the  name  of  Santees  (Isanyati),  Dwellers  on  Knife. 

These  two  representative  Frenchmen,  thus  brought  to- 
gether, at  so  early  a  day,  in  the  wilds  of  the  West,  visited 
the  home  of  the  Sioux,  as  above  indicated,  and  to  them  we 
are  indebted  for  much  of  what  we  know  of  the  Dakotas 
two  centuries  ago. 

The  Ojibwas  and  Hurons  were  then  occupying  the 
southern  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  and,  coming  first  into 
communication  with  the  white  race,  they  were  first 
supplied  with  fire  arms,  which  gave  them  such  an  advant- 
age over  the  more-warlike  Sioux,  that,  in  the  next 
hundred  years,  we  find  the  Ojibwas  in  possession  of  all 
the  country  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  while 
the  Dakotas  had  migrated  southward  and  westward. 

The  general  enlistment  of  the  Sioux,  and  indeed  of  all 
these  tribes  of  the  northwest,  on  the  side  .of  the  British 
in  the  war  of  1812,  showed  the  necessity  of  a  strong 
military  garrison  in  the  heart  of  the  Indian  countrv. 
Hence  the  building  of  Fort  Snelling  nearly  sixty  years 
ago.  At  the  confluence  of  the  Minnesota  with  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  on  the  high  point  between  the  two,  it  has  an 
admirable  outlook.  So  it  seemed  to  us  as  we  approached 
it  on  that  first  day  of  June,  1837.  On  our  landing  we 
became  the  guests  of  Lieut.  Ogden  and  his  excellent  wife, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Major  Loomis.  To  us,  Mary 
2 


18  MARY    AIS7D    I. 

and  me,  every  thing  was  new  and  strange.  We  knew 
nothing  of  military  life.  But  our  sojourn  of  a  few  days 
was  ^  made  pleasant  and  profitable  by  the  Christian  sym- 
pathy which  met  us  there — the  evidence  of  the  Spirit's 
presence,  which,  two  years  before,  had  culminated  in  the 
organization  of  a  Christian  church  in  the  garrison,  on  the 
arrival  of  the  first  missionaries  to  the  Dakotas. 

The  FALLS  OF  SAINT  ANTHOXY  and  the  beautiful 
MINNEHAHA  have  now  become  historic,  and  MINNETOISTKA 
has  become  a  place  of  summer  resort.  But  forty  years 
ago  it  was  only  now  and  then  that  the  eyes  of  a  white 
man,  and  still  more  rarely  the  eyes  of  a  white  woman, 
looked  upon  the  Falls  of  Curling  Water;  and  scarcely  any 
one  knew  that  the  water  in  Little  Falls  Creek  came  from 
Minnetonka  Lake.  But  nearer  by  were  the  beautiful 
lakes,  CALHOUN  and  HARRIET.  On  the  first  of  these  was 
the  Dakota  Village,  of  which  Cloudman  and  Drifter 
were  then  the  chiefs  ;  and  on  whose  banks  the  brothers 
Pond  had  erected  the  first  white  man's  cabin  ;  and  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  latter  was  a  mission  station  of  the 
American  Board,  commenced  two  years  before  by  Rev. 
Jedediah  D.  Stevens. 

Here  Mary  and.  I  were  to  make  a  home  for  the  next 
three  months.  It  was  a  delightful  spot,  and  we  very 
much  enjoyed  the  commencement  of  our  missionary  life. 
There  we  were  in  daily  contact  with  the  Dakota  men, 
women  and  children.  There  we  began  to  listen  to  the 
strange  sounds  of  the  Dakota  tongue  ;  and  there  we  made 
our  first  laughable  efforts  in  speaking  the  language. 

We  were  fortunate  in  meeting  there  Rev.  Samuel  W. 
Pond,  the  older  of  the  brothers,  who  had  come  out  from 
Connecticut  three  years  previous,  and,  in  advance  of  all 
others,  had  erected  their  missionary  cabin  on  the  margin 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  19 

of  Lake  Calhoun.  Mr.  Pond's  knowledge  of  Dakota  was 
quite  a  help  to  us  who  were  just  commencing  to  learn  it. 
Before  we  left  the  States,  it  had  been  impressed  upon  us 
by  Secretary  David  Greene,  that  whether  we  were  suc- 
cessful missionaries  or  not  depended  much  on  our  acquir- 
ing a  free  use  of  the  Language.  And  the  teaching  of  my 
own  experience  and  observation  is,  that  if  one  fails  to 
make  a  pretty  good  start  the  first  year,  in  its  acquisition, 
it  will  be  a  rare  thing  i;  he  ever  masters  the  language. 
And  so,  obedient  to  our  instructions,  we  made  it  our  first 
work  to  get  our  ears  opened  to  the  strange  sounds,  and 
our  tongues  made  cunning  for  their  utterance.  Often 
times  we  laughed  at  our  own  blunders,  as  when  I  told 
Mary,  one  day,  that  pish  was  the  Dakota  for  fish.  A 
Dakota  boy  was  trying  to  speak  the  English  word.  Mr. 
Stevens  had  gathered,  from  various  sources,  a  vocabulary 
of  five  or  six  hundred  words.  This  formed  the  commence- 
ment of  the  growth  of  the  Dakota  Grammar  and 
Dictionary  which  I  published  fifteen  years  afterward. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevens  were  from  Central  New  York, 
and  were  engaged  as  early  as  1827,  in  missionary  labors 
on  the  Island  of  Mackinaw.  In  1829,  Mr.  Stevens  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Coe  made  a  tour  of  exploration  through  the 
wilds  of  Northern  Wisconsin,  coming  as  far  as  Fort  Snell- 
ing.  For  several  years  thereafter,  Mr.  Stevens  was 
connected  with  the  Stockbridge  mission  on  Fox  Lake; 
and,  in  the  summer  of  1835,  he  had  commenced  this  sta- 
tion at  Lake  Harriet.  At  the  time  of  our  arrival  he  had 
made  things  look  quite  civilized.  He  had  built  two 
houses  of  tamarack  logs,  the  larger  of  which  his  own 
family  occupied;  the  lower  part  of  the  other  was  used  for 
the  school  and  religious  meetings.  Half  a  dozen  board- 
ing scholars,  chiefly  half-breed  girls,  formed  the  nucleus 


20  MAKY    AND    I. 

of  the  school,  which  was  taught  by  his  niece,  Miss  Lucy 
C.  Stevens,  who  was  afterward  married  to  Rev.  Daniel 
Gavan,  of  the  Swiss  mission  to  the  Dakotas. 

As  the  mission  family  was  already  quite  large  enough 
for  comfort,  Mary  and  I,  not  wishing  to  add  to  any  one's 
burdens,  undertook  to  make  ourselves  comfortable  in  a 
part  of  the  school-building.  Our  stay  there  was  to  be  <  nly 
temporary,  and  hence  it  was  only  needful  that  we  take 
care  of  ourselves,  and  give  such  occasional  help  in  the 
way  of  English  preaching  arid  otherwise  as  we  could. 
The  Dakotas  did  not  yet  care  to  hear  the  gospel.  The 
Messrs.  Pond  had  succeeded  in  teaching  one  young  man 
to  read  and  write,  and  occasionally  a  few  could  be  in- 
duced to  come  and  listen  to  the  good  news.  It  was  seed- 
sowing  time.  Many  seeds  fell  by  the  wayside,  or  on  the 
hard  path  of  sin.  Most  fell  among  thorns.  But  some 
found  good  ground,  and  lying  dormant  a  full  quarter  of  a 
century,  then  sprang  up  and  fruited  in  the  prison  at  Maii- 
kato.  Also  of  the  girls  in  that  first  Dakota  boarding- 
school,  quite  a  good  proportion  became  Christian  women 
and  the  mothers  of  Christian  families. 

But  the  mission  at  Lake  Harriet  was  not  to  continue 
long.  In  less  than  two  years  from  the  time  we  were 
there,  two  Ojibwa  young  men  avenged  the  killing  of  their 
father  by  waylaying  and  killing  a  prominent  man  of  the 
Lake  Calhoun  Village.  A  thousand  Ojibwas  had  just  left 
Fort  Snelling  to  return  to  their  homes  by  way  of  Lake 
St.  Croix  and  the  Rum  River.  Both  parties  were  followed 
by  the  Sioux,  and  terrible  slaughter  ensued.  But  the 
result  of  their  splendid  victory  was,  that  the  Lake  Cal- 
houn people  were  afraid  to  live  there  any  longer,  and  so 
they  abandoned  their  village  and  plantings  and  settled  on 
the  banks  of  the  Minnesota. 


FORTY    TEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  21 

During  our  three-months'  stay  at  Lake  Harriet,  every- 
thing we  saw  and  heard  was  fresh  and  interesting,  and 
Mary  could  not  help  telling  of  them  to  her  friends  in 
Hawley.  The  grandfather  was  ninety  years  old,  to  whom 
she  thus  wrote: 

"LAKE  HARRIET,  June  22,  1837. 

"  We  are  now  on  missionary  ground,  and  are  surrounded 
by  those  dark  people  of  whom  we  often  talked  at  your 
fireside  last  winter.  I  doubt  not  you  will  still  think  and 
talk  about  them,  and  pray  for  them  also.  And  surely 
your  grandchildren  will  not  be  forgotten. 

"  We  reached  this  station  two  weeks  since,  after  enjoy- 
ing Lieut.  Ogden's  hospitality  a  few  days,  and  were 
kindly  welcomed  by  Mr.  Stevens'  family,  with  whom  we 
remain  until  a  house,  now  occupied  by  the  school,  can  be 
prepared,  that  we  can  live  in  a  part.  Then  we  shall  feel 
still  more  at  home,  though  I  hope  our  rude  habitation 
will  remind  us  that  we  are  pilgrims  on  our  way  to  a 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

"  The  situation  of  the  mission  houses  is  very  beautiful — 
on  a  little  eminence,  just  upon  the  shore  of  a  lovely  lake 
skirted  with  trees.  About  a  mile  north  of  us  is  Lake 
Calhoun,  on  the  margin  of  which  is  an  Indian  village  of 
about  twenty  lodges.  Most  of  these  are  bark  houses, 
some  of  which  are  twenty  feet  square,  and  others  are  tents 
of  skin  or  cloth.  Several  days  since  I  walked  over  to  the 
village  and  called  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  chiefs.  He 
was  not  at  home,  but  his  daughters  smiled  very  good 
naturedly  upon  us.  We  seated  ourselves  on  all  the  bed, 
sofa  and  chairs  they  had,  which  was  a  frame  extending 
on  three  sides  of  the  house,  and  covered  with  skins. 

"  Since  our  visit  at  the  village,  two  old  chiefs  have 
called  upon  us.  One^  said  this  was  a  very  bad  country — 


22  MAEY    AND    I. 

ours  was  a  good  country — we  had  left  a  good  country, 
and  come  to  live  in  his  bad  country,  and  he  was  glad. 
The  other  called  on  Sabbath  evening,  when  Mr.  Riggs 
was  at  the  Fort,  where  he  preaches  occasionally.  He 
inquired  politely  how  I  liked  the  country,  and  said  it  was 
bad.  What  could  a  courtier  have  said  more? 

"  The  Indians  come  here  at  all  hours  of  the  day  with- 
out ceremony,  sometimes  dressed  and  painted  very  fan- 
tastically, and  again  with  scarcely  any  clothing.  One 
came  in  yesterday  dressed  in  a  coat,  calico  shirt  and  cloth 
leggins,  the  only  one  I  have  seen  with  a  coat,  excepting 
two  boys  who  were  in  the  family  when  we  came.  The 
most  singular  ornament  I  have  seen  was  a  large  striped 
snake  fastened  among  the  painted  hair,  feathers,  and  rib- 
bons of  an  Indian's  head-dress,  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
could  coil  round  in  front  and  dart  out  its  snake  head,  or 
creep  down  upon  the  back  at  pleasure.  During  this  the 
Indian  sat  perfectly  at  ease,  apparently  much  pleased  at 
the  astonishment  and  fear  manifested  by  some  of  the 
family." 

"June  26. 

"Yesterday  Mr.  Riggs  and  myself  commemorated  a 
Savior's  love,  for  the  first  time  on  missionary  ground. 
The  season  was  one  of  precious  interest,  sitting  down  at 
Jesus'  table  with  a  little  band  of  brothers  and  sisters,  one 
of  whom  was  a  Chippewa  convert  who  accompanied  Mr. 
Ayer  from  Pokeguma.  One  of  the  Methodist  mission- 
aries, Mr.  King,  with  a  colored  man,  and  the  members  of 
the  church  from  the  Fort  and  the  mission,  completed  our 
band  of  fifteen.  Two  of  these  were  received  on  this 
occasion.  Several  Sioux  were  present  and  gazed  on  the 
strange  scene  before  them.  A  medicine  man,  Howashta 
by  name,  was  present  with  a  long  pole  in  his  hand,  hav- 


FORTY    YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  23 

ing  his  head  decked  with  a  stuffed  bird  of  brilliant 
plumage,  and  the  tail  of  another  of  dark  brown.  His 
name  means  "Good  Voice,"  and  he  is  building  him  a  log 
house  not  far  from  the  mission.  If  he  could  be  brought 
into  the  fold  of  the  Kind  Shepherd,  and  become  a  humble 
and  devoted  follower  of  Jesus,  he  might  be  instrumental 
of  great  good  to  his  people.  He  might  indeed  be  a 
Good  Voice  bringing  glad  tidings  to  their  dark  souls." 

TO    HER  MOTHER. 

"HOME,  July  8,  1837. 

"Would  that  you  could  look  in  upon  us;  but  as  you 
cannot,  I  will  try  and  give  you  some  idea  of  our  home. 
Th3  building  fronts  the  lake,  but  our  part  opens  upon 
the  woodland  back  of  its  western  shore.  The  lower  room 
has  a  small  cooking-stove,  given  us  by  Mrs.  Burgess,  a 
few  chairs  and  a  small  table,  a  box  and  barrel  containing 
dishes,  etc.,  a  small  will-be  pantry  when  completed,  under 
the  stairs,  filled  with  flour,  corn  meal,  beans  and  stove 
furniture.  Our  chamber  is  low  and  nearly  filled  by  a  bed, 
a  small  bureau  and  stand,  a  table  for  writing  made  of  a 
box,  and  the  rest  of  our  half-dozen  chairs  and  one  rock- 
ing chair,  cushioned  by  my  mother's  kind  forethought, 

"  The  rough,  loose  boards  in  the  chamber  are  covered 
with  a  coarse  and  cheap  hair-and-tow  carpeting,  to  save 
labor.  The  floor  below  will  require  some  cleaning,  but  I 
shall  not  try  to  keep  it  white.  I  have  succeeded  very 
well,  according  to  my  judgment,  in  household  affairs — 
that  is,  very  well  for  me. 

"  Some  Indian  women  came  in  yesterday  bringing 
strawberries,  which  I  purchased  with  beans.  Poor  crea- 
tures, they  have  very  little  food  of  any  kind  at  this  season 
of  the  year,  and  we  feel  it  difficult  to  know  how  much  it 
is  our  duty  to  give  them. 


24:  MAEY    AND    I. 

"  We  are  not  troubled  with  all  the  insects  which  used 
to  annoy  me  in  Indiana,  but  the  musquitoes  are  far  more 
abundant.  At  dark,  swarms  fill  our  room,  deafen  our 
ears,  and  irritate  our  skin.  For  the  last  two  evenings  we 
have  filled  our  house  with  smoke,  almost  to  suffocation, 
to  disperse  these  our  officious  visitors." 

"July  31. 

"  Until  my  location  here,  I  was  not  aware  that  it  was 
so  exceedingly  common  for  officers  im  the  army  to  have 
two  wives  or  more, — but  one  of  course  legally  so.  For 
instance,  at  the  Fort,  before  the  removal  of  the  last 
troops,  there  were  but  two  officers  who  were  not  known 
to  have  an  Indian  woman,  if  not  half-Indian  children. 
You  remember  I  used  to  cherish  some  partiality  for  the 
military,*  but  I  must  confess  the  last  vestige  of  it  has 
departed.  I  am  not  now  thinking  of  its  connection  with 
the  Peace  question,  but  with  that  of  moral  reform.  Once 
in  my  childhood's  simplicity,  I  regarded  the  army  and  its 
discipline  as  a  school  for  gentlemanly  manners,  but  now 
it  seems  a  sink  of  iniquity,  a  school  of  vice." 

With  the  month  of  September  came  the  time  of  our 
departure  for  Lac-qui-parle.  But  Mary  had  not  yet  seen 
the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony.  And  so,  we  harnessed  up  a 
horse  and  cart,  and  had  a  pleasant  ride  across  the  prairie 
to  the  government  saw-mill,  which,  with  a  small  dwelling 
for  the  soldier  occupant,  was  then  the  only  sign  of  civili- 
zation on  the  present  site  of  Minneapolis.  Then  we  had 
our  household  goods  packed  up  and  put  on  board  Mr. 
Prescott's  Mackinaw  boat  to  be  carried  up  to  Traverse 
des  Sioux.  Mr.  Prescott  was  a  white  man  with  a  Dakota 
wife,  and  had  been  for  years  engaged  in  the  fur  trade. 
He  had  on  board  his  winter  outfit.  Mary  andN  I  took 
passage  with  him  and  his  family,  and  spent  a  week  of 


FORTY    YEAKS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  25 

new  life  on  what  was  then  called  the  Saint  Peter's  River. 
The  days  were  very  enjoyable,  and  the  nights  were  quite 
comfortable,  for  we  had  all  the  advantages  of  Mr.  Pres- 
cott's  tent,  and  conveniences  for  camp  life.  His  propelling 
force  was  the  muscles  of  five  Frenchmen,  who  worked 
the  oars  and  the  poles,  sometimes  paddling  and  sometimes 
pushing,  and  often,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  voyage, 
wading  to  find  the  best  channel  over  a  sand  bar.  But 
they  enjoyed  their  work  and  sang  songs  by  the  way. 

FROM  MARY'S  LETTERS. 

"  Sept.  2,  1837. 

"  Dr.  Williamson  arrived  at  Lake  Harriet  after  a  six 
days'  journey  from  home,  and  assured  us  of  their  kindest 
wishes,  and  their  willingness  to  furnish  us  with  corn  and 
potatoes,  and  a  room  in  their  house.  We  have  just  break- 
fasted on  board  our  Mackinaw,  and  so  far  on  our  way 
have  had  cause  for  thankfulness  that  God  so  overruled 
events,  even  though  some  attendant  circumstances  were 
unpleasant.  It  is  also  a  great  source  of  comfort  that  we 
have  so  good  accommodations  and  Sabbath-keeping  com- 
pany. You  recollect  my  mentioning  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Prescott,  and  of  his  uniting  with  the  church  at 
Lake  Harriet,  in  the  summer. 

"Perhaps  you  may  feel  some  curiosity  respecting  our 
appearance  and  that  of  our  barge.  Fancy  a  large  boat 
of  forty  feet  in  length,  and  perhaps  eight  in  width  in  the 
middle,  capable  of  carrying  five  tons,  and  manned  by  five 
men,  four  at  the  oars  and  a  steersman  at  the  stern.  Near 
the  center  are  our  sleeping  accommodations  nicely  rolled 
up,  on  which  we  sit,  and  breakfast  and  dine  on  bread, 
cold  ham,  wild  fowl,  etc.  We  have  tea  and  coffee  for 
breakfast  and  supper.  Mrs.  Prescott  does  not  pitch  and 
strike  the  tent,  as  the  Indian  women  usually  do;  but  it  is 


26  MARY    AND    I. 

because  the  boatmen  can  do  it,  and  her  husband  does  not 
require  as  much  of  her  as  an  Indian  man.  They  accom- 
modate us  in  their  tent,  which  is  similar  to  a  soldier's 
tent,  just  large  enough  for  two  beds.  Here  we  take  our 
supper,  sitting  on  or  by  the  matting  made  by  some  of 
these  western  Indians,  and  then,  after  worship,  lie  down 
to  rest." 

"  Monday,  Sept.  4. 

"Again  we  are  on  our  way  up  the  crooked  Saint  Peter's, 
having  passed  the  Sabbath  in  our  tent  in  the  wilderness, 
far  more  pleasantly  than  the  Sabbath  we  spent  in  St. 
Tjouis.  Last  Saturday  I  became  quite  fatigued  sympa- 
thizing with  those  who  drew  the  boat  on  the  Rnpids,  and 
following  my  Indian  guide,  'Mrs.  Prescott,  through  tlie 
woods,  to  take  it  after  ascending  them.  The  fall  I  should 
think  two  feet,  at  this  stage  of  water,  and  nearly  perpen- 
dicular, excepting  a  very  narrow  channel,  where  it  was 
oblique.  The  boat  being  lightened,  all  the  men  attempted 
to  force  it  up  this  channel,  some  by  the  rope  attached  to 
the  boat,  and  others  by  pulling  and  pushing  it  as  they 
stood  by  it  on  the  rocks  and  in  the  water.  Both  the  first 
and  second  attempts  were  fruitless.  The  second  time  the 
rope  was  lengthened  and  slipped  round  a  tree  on  the 
high  bank,  where  the  trader's  wife  and  I  were  standing. 
Her  husband  called  her  to  hold  the  end  of  the  rope,  and, 
as  I  could  not  stand  idle,  though  I  knew  I  could  do  no 
good,  I  joined  her,  watching  the  slowly  ascending  boat 
with  the  deepest  interest.  A  moment  more  and  the  toil 
would  have  been  over,  when  the  rope  snapped,  and  the 
boat  slid  back  in  a  twinkling.  It  was  further  lightened 
and  the  rope  doubled,  and  then  it  was  drawn  safely  up  and 
re-packed,  in  about  two  hours  and  a  half  from  the  time 
we  reached  the  Rapids." 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  27 

"Tuesday,  Sept.  5. 

"  In  good  health  and  spirits,  we  are  again  on  our  way. 
As  the  river  is  shallow  and  the  bottom  hard,  poles  have 
been  substituted  for  oars;  boards  placed  along  the  boat's 
sides  serve  for  a  footpath  for  the  boatmen,  who  propel  the 
boat  by  fixing  the  pole  into  the  earth  at  the  prow  and 
pushing  until  they  reach  the  stern. 

At  Traverse  des  Sioux  our  land  journey,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  miles  to  Lac-qui-parle,  commenced. 
Here  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  somewhat  remarka- 
ble French  Trader,  by  name  Louis  Provencalle,  but 
commonly  called  Le  Bland.  The  Indians  called  him 
Skadan,  Little  White.  He  was  an  old  voyager,  who 
could  neither  read  nor  write,  but,  by  a  certain  force  of 
character,  he  had  risen  to  the  honorable  position  of  trader. 
He  kept  his  accounts  with  his  Indian  creditors  by  a  sys- 
tem of  hieroglyphics. 

For  the  next  week  we  were  under  the  convoy  of  Dr. 
Thomas  S.  Williamson  and  Mr.  Gideon  H.  Pond,  who 
met  us  with  teams  from  Lac-qui-parle.  The  first  night  of 
our  camping  on  the  prairie,  Dr.  Williamson  taught  me  a 
lesson  which  I  never  forgot.  We  were  preparing  the 
tent  for  the  night,  and  I  was  disposed  to  let  the  rough- 
ness of  the  surface  remain,  and  not  even  gather  grass  for 
a  bed,  which  the  Indians  do;  on  the  ground,  as  I  said, 
that  it  was  for  only  one  night.  "  But,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  there  will  be  a  great  many  one  nights"  And  so  I  have 
found  it.  It  is  best  to  make  the  tent  comfortable  for  ONE 
NIGHT. 

This  was  our  first  introduction — Mary's  and  mine — to 
the  broad  prairies  of  the  West.  At  first,  we  kept  in 
sight  of  the  woods  of  the  Minnesota,  and  our  road  lay 
among  and  through  little  groves  of  timber.  But  by  and 


28  MAEY   AND    I. 

by  we  emerged  into  the  broad  savannahs — thousands  of 
acres  of  meadow  unmowed,  and  broad  rolling  country 
covered,  at  this  time  of  year,  with  yellow  and  blue  flow- 
ers. Every  thing  was  full  of  interest  to  us,  even  the  Bad 
Swamp — We  we  Shecha — which  so  bent  and  shook  under 
the  tramp  of  our  teams,  that  we  could  almost  believe  it 
would  break  through  and  let  us  into  the  earth's  center. 
For  years  after,  this  was  the  great  fear  of  our  prairie 
traveling,  always  reminding  us  very  forcibly  of  Bunyan's 
description  of  the  "  Slough  of  Despond."  The  only 
accident  of  this  journey  was  the  breaking  of  the  axle  of 
one  of  Mr.  Pond's  loaded  carts.  It  was  Saturday  after- 
noon. Mr.  Pond  and  Dr.  Williamson  remained  to  make 
a  new  one,  and  Mary  and  I  went  on  to  the  stream  where 
we  were  to  camp,  and  made  ready  for  the  Sabbath. 

"ON  THE  BROAD  PRAIRIE  OF  'THE  FAR  WEST.' 

"Saturday  Eve.,  Sept.  9, 1837. 
"  My  Ever  Dear  Mother: 

Just  at  twilight  I  seat  myself  upon  the  ground  by  our 
fire,  with  the  wide  heavens  above  for  a  canopy,  to  com- 
mune with  her  whose  yearning  heart  follows  her  children 
wherever  they  roam.  This  is  the  second  day  we  have 
traveled  on  this  prairie,  having  left  Traverse  des  Sioux 
late  Thursday  afternoon.  Before  leaving  that  place,  a 
little  half-Indian  girl,  daughter  of  the  trader  where  we 
stopped,  brought  me  nearly  a  dozen  of  eggs  (the  first  I 
had  seen  since  leaving  the  States),  which  afforded  us  a 
choice  morsel  for  the  next  day.  To-morrow  we  rest,  it 
being  the  Sabbath,  and  may  we  and  you  be  in  the  Spirit 
on  the  Lord's  day. 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  Sept.  18. 

"  The  date  will  tell  you  of  our  arrival  at  this  station 
where  we  have  found  a  home.  We  reached  this  place  on 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  29 

Wednesday  last,  having  been  thirteen  days  from  Fort 
Snelling,  a  shorter  time  than  is  usually  required  for  such 
a  journey,  the  Lord's  hand  being  over  us  to  guide  and 
prosper  us  on  our  way.  Two  Sabbaths  we  rested  from 
our  travels,  and  the  last  of  them  was  peculiarly  refresh- 
ing to  body  and  spirit.  Having  risen  and  put  our  tent  in 
order,  we  engaged  in  family  worship,  and  afterward  par- 
took of  our  frugal  meal.  Then  all  was  still  in  that  wide 
wilderness,  save  at  intervals,  when  some  bird  of  passage 
told  us  of  its  flight  and  bade  our  wintry  clime  farewell. 

"Before  noon  we  had  a  season  of  social  worship,  lifting 
up  our  hearts  with  one  voice  in  prayer  and  praise,  and 
reading  a  portion  of  God's  word.  It  was  indeed  pleasant 
to  think  that  God  was  present  with  us,  far  away  as  we 
were  from  any  human  being  but  ourselves.  The  day 
passed  peacefully  away,  and  night's  refreshing  slumbers 
succeeded.  The  next  morning  we  were  on  our  way  be- 
fore the  sun  began  his  race,  and  having  rode  fifteen  or 
sixteen  miles,  according  to  our  best  calculations,  we 
stopped  for  breakfast  and  dinner  at  a  lake  where  wood 
and  water  could  both  b3  obtained,  two  essentials  which 
frequently  are  not  found  together  on  the  prairie. 

"  Thus,  you  will  be  able  to  imagine  us  with  our  two 
one-ox  carts  and  a  double  wagon,  all  heavily  laden,  as  we 
have  traveled  across  the  prairie." 

THOMAS  SMITH  WILLIAMSON  had  been  ten  years  a 
practicing  physician  in  Ripley,  Ohio.  There  he  had  mar- 
ried MARGARET  POAGE,  of  one  of  the  first  families.  One 
after  another  their  children  had  died.  Perhaps  that  led 
them  to  think  that  God  had  a  work  for  them  to  do  else- 
where. At  any  rate,  after  spending  a  year  in  the  Lane 
Theological  Seminary,  the  doctor  turned  his  thoughts 
toward  the  Sioux,  for  whom  no  man  seemed  to  care.  In 


30  MARY    AND    I. 

the  spring  of  1834,  he  made  a  visit  up  to  Fort  Snelling. 
And  in  the  year  following,  as  has  already  been  noted,  he 
came  as  a  missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  with  his  wife 
and  one  child,  accompanied  by  Miss  SARAH  POAGE,  Mrs. 
Williamson's  sister,  and  MR.  ALEXANDER  G.  HUGGINS 
and  his  wife,  with  two  children. 

This  company  reached  Fort  Snelling  a  week  or  two  in 
advance  of  Mr.  Stevens,  and  were  making  preparations 
to  build  at  Lake  Calhoun;  but  Mr.  Stevens  claimed  the 
right  of  selection,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  there 
in  1829.  And  so  Dr.  Williamson  and  his  party  accepted 
the  invitation  of  Mr.  Joseph  Renville,  the  Bois  Brule 
trader  at  Lac-qui-parle,  to  go  two  hundred  miles  into  the 
interior.  All  this  was  of  the  Lord,  as  it  plainly  appeared 
in  after  years.  At  the  time  we  approached  the  mission 
at  Lac-qui-parle,  they  had  been  two  fall  years  in  the  field, 
and,  under  favorable  auspices,  had  made  a  very  good 
beginning.  About  the  middle  of  September,  after  a 
pretty  good  week  of  prairie  travel,  we  were  very  glad  to 
receive  the  greetings  of  the  mission  families. 

A  few  days  after  our  arrival,  Mary  wrote:  "  The  even- 
ing we  came,  we  were  shown  a  little  chamber,  where  we 
spread  our  Bed  and  took  up  our  abode.  On  Friday,  Mr. 
Riggs  made  a  bedstead,  by  boring  holes  and  driving 
slabs  into  the  logs,  across  which  boards  are  laid.  This 
answers  the  purpose  very  well,  though  rather  uneven. 
Yesterday  was  the  Sabbath,  and  such  a  Sabbath  as  I  never 
before  enjoyed.  Although  the  day  was  cold  and  stormy, 
and  much  like  November,  twenty-five  Indians  and  part- 
bloods  assembled  at  eleven  o'clock  in  our  school-room  for 
public  worship.  Excepting  a  prayer,  all  the  exercises 
were  in  Dakota  and  French,  and  most  of  them  in  the  for- 
mer language.  Could  you  have  seen  these  Indians  kneel 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  31 

with  stillness  and  order,  during  prayer,  and  rise  and 
engage  in  singing  hymns  in  their  own  tongue,  led  by  one 
of  their  own  tribe,  I  am  sure  your  heart  would  have  been 
touched.  The  hymns  were  composed  by  Mr.  Renville  the 
trader,  who  is  probably  three-fourths  Sioux." 

Doctor  Williamson  had  erected  a  log  house  a  story  and 
a  half  high.  In  the  lower  part  was  his  own  living  room, 
and  also  a  room  with  a  large  open  fireplace,  which  then, 
and  for  several  years  afterward,  was  used  for  the  school 
and  Sabbath  assemblies.  In  the  upper  part,  there  were 
three  rooms,  still  in  an  unfinished  state.  The  largest  of 
these,  ten  feet  wide  and  eighteen  feet  long,  was  appro- 
priated to  our  use.  We  fixed  it  up  with  loose  boards 
overhead,  and  quilts  nailed  up  to  the  rafters,  and  impro- 
vised a  bedstead,  as  we  had  been  unable  to  bring  ours 
farther  than  Fort  Snelling. 

That  room  we  made  our  home  for  five  winters.  There 
were  some  hardships  about  such  close  quarters,  but,  all  in 
all,  Mary  and  I  never  enjoyed  five  winters  better  than 
those  spent  in  that  upper  room.  There  our  first  three 
children  were  born.  There  we  worked  in  acquiring  the 
language.  There  we  received  our  Dakota  visitors.  There 
I  wrote  and  wrote  again  my  ever  growing  dictionary. 
And  then,  with  what  help  I  could  obtain,  I  prepared  for 
the  printer  the  greater  part  of  the  New  Testament  in  the 
language  of  the  Dakotas.  It  was  a  consecrated  room. 

Well,  we  had  set  up  our  cooking- stove  in  our  upper 
room,  but  the  furniture  was  a  huiidre.l  and  twenty-five 
miles  away.  It  was  not  easy  for  Mary  to  cook  with  noth- 
ing to  cook  in.  But  the  good  women  of  the  mission 
came  to  her  relief  with  kettle  and  pan.  More  than  this, 
*  there  were  some  things  to  be  done  now  which  neither 
Mary  nor  I  had  learned  to  do.  She  was  not  an  adept  at 


32  MARY   AND    I. 

making  light  bread,  and  neither  of  us  could  milk  a  cow. 
She  grew  up  in  New  England,  where  the  men  alone  did 
the  milking,  and  I  in  Ohio,  where  the  women  alone  milked 
in  those  days.  At  first  it  took  us  both  to  milk  a  cow,  and 
it  was  poorly  done.  But  Mary  succeeded  best.  Never- 
theless, application  and  perseverance  succeeded,  and, 
although  never  boasting  of  any  special  ability  in  that 
line  of  things,  I  could  do  my  own  milking,  and  Mary 
became  very  skillful  in  bread-making,  as  well  as  in  other 
mysteries  of  housekeeping. 

The  missionary  work  began  now  to  open  before  us. 
The  village  at  Lac-qui-parle  consisted  of  about  400  per- 
sons, chiefly  of  the  Wahpaton,  or  Leaf-village  band  of 
the  Dakotas.  They  were  very  poor  and  very  proud.  Mr. 
Renville,  as  a  half-breed  and  fur  trader,  had  acquired  an 
unbounded  influence  over  many  of  them.  They  were  will- 
ing to  follow  his  leading.  And  so  the  young  men  of  his  sol- 
dier's lodge  were  the  first,  after  his  own  family,  to  learn  to 
read.  On  the  Sabbath,  there  gathered  into  this  lower  room 
twenty  or  thirty  men  and  women,  but  mostly  women,  to 
hear  the  Word  as  prepared  by  Dr.  Williamson  with  Mr. 
Renville's  aid.  A  few  Dakota  hymns  had  been  made, 
and  were  sung  under  the  leadership  of  Mr<  Huggins  or 
young  Mr.  Joseph  Renville.  Mr.  Renville  and  Mr.  Pond 
made  the  prayers  in  Dakota.  Early  in  the  year  1836,  a 
church  had  been  organized,  which,  at  this  time,  contained 
seven  native  members,  chiefly  from  Mr.  Renville's  house- 
hold. And  in  the  winter  which  followed  our  arrival,  nine 
were  added,  making  a  native  church  of  sixteen,  of  which 
one  half  were  full-blood  Dakota  women,  and  in  the  others 
the  Dakota  blood  greatly  predominated. 

One  of  the  noted  things  that  took  place  in  those  au- 
tumn days,  was  the  marriage  of  MR.  GIDEON  HOLISTER 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  33 

POND  and  Miss  SAKAH  POAGE.  That  was  the  first  couple 
I  married,  and  I  look  back  to  it  with  great  satisfaction. 
The  bond  has  been  long  since  sundered  by  death,  but  it 
was  a  true  covenant  entered  into  by  true  hearts,  and 
receiving,  from  the  first,  the  blessing  of  the  Master.  Mr 
Pond  made  a  great  feast,  and  "  called  the  poor,  and  the 
maimed,  and  the  halt  and  the  blind,"  and  many  such 
Dakotas  were  there  to  be  called.  They  could  not  recom- 
pense him  by  inviting  him  again,  and  it  yet  remains  that 
"he  shall  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just." 

"Nov.  2. 

"  Yesterday  the  marriage  referred  to  was  solemnized. 
Could  I  paint  the  assembly,  you  would  agree  with  me 
that  it  was  deeply  and  singularly  interesting.  Fancy,  for 
a  moment,  the  audience  who  were  witnesses  of  the  scene. 
The  rest  of  our  missionary  band  sat  near  those  of  our 
number  who  were  about  to  enter  into  the  new  and  sacred 
relationship,  while  most  of  the  room  was  filled  with  our 
dark-faced  guests,  a  blanket  or  a  buffalo  robe  their  chief 
"  wedding  garment,"  and  coarse  and  tawdry  beads, 
brooches,  paint  and  feathers,  their  wedding  ornaments. 
Here  and  there  sat  a  Frenchman  or  half-breed,  whose 
garb  bespoke  their  different  origin.  No  turkey  or  eagle 
feathers  adorned  the  hair,  or  party-colored  paint  the  face, 
though  even  their  appearance  and  attire  reminded  us  of 
our  location  in  this  wilderness. 

"  Mr.  Riggs  performed  the  marriage  ceremony,  and  Dr. 
Williamson  made  the  concluding  prayer,  and,  through 
Mr.  Renville,  briefly  explained  to  the  Dakotas  the  ordi- 
nance and  its  institution.  After  the  ceremony,  Mr. 
Renville  and  family  partook  with  us  of  our  frugal  meal, 
leaving  the  Indians  to  enjoy  their  feast  of  potatoes,  tur- 
nips and  bacon,  to  which  the  poor,  the  lame  and  the  blind 

3 


34:  MARY    AND    I. 

had  been  invited.  As  they  were  not  aware  of  the  supper 
that  was  provided,  they  did  not  bring  their  dishes,  as  is 
the  Indian  custom,  so  that  they  were  scantily  furnished 
with  milk  pans,  etc.  This  deficiency  they  supplied  very 
readily  by  emptying  the  first  course,  which  was  potatoes, 
into  their  blankets,  and  passing  their  dishes  for  a  supply 
of  turnips  and  bacon. 

"  I  know  not  when  I  have  seen  a  group  so  novel,  as  I 
found  on  repairing  to  the  room  where  these  poor  creatures 
were  promiscuously  seated.  On  my  left  sat  an  old  man 
nearly  blind;  before  me,  the  woman  who  dipped  out  the 
potatoes  from  a  five-pail  boiler,  sat  on  the  floor;  and  near 
her  was  an  old  man  dividing  the  bacon,  clenching  it 
firmly  in  his  hand,  and  looking  up  occasionally  to  see  how 
many  there  were  requiring  a  share.  In  the  corner  sat  a 
lame  man  eagerly  devouring  his  potatoes,  and  around 
were  scattered  women  and  children. 

"  When  the  last  ladle  was  filled  from  the  large  pot  of 
turnips,  one  by  one  they  hastily  departed,  borrowing 
dishes  to  carry  home  the  supper,  to  divide  with  the  chil- 
dren who  had  remained  in  charge  of  the  tents." 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  35 


CHAPTER  III. 

1837-1839.— The  Language.— Its  Growth.— System  of  Notation.— 
After  Changes. — What  we  Had  to  Put  into  the  Language. — 
Teaching  English,  and  Teaching  Dakota. — Mary's  Letter. — 
Fort  Renville.— Translating  the  Bible.— The  Gospels  of  Mark 
and  John.— "Good  Bird"  Born.— Dakota  Names.— The  Les- 
sons we  Learned. — Dakota  Washing. — Extracts  from  Letters. 
— Dakota  Tents. — A  Marriage. — Visiting  the  Village. — Girls, 
Boys  and  Dogs. — G.  H.  Pond's  Indian  Hunt. — Three  Families 
Killed.— The  Village  Wail.— The  Power  of  a  Name.— Post- 
Office  Far  Away.— The  Coming  of  the  Mail.— S.  W.  Pond 
Comes  Up.— My  Visit  to  Snelling.— Lost  My  Horse. — Dr. 
Williamson  Goes  to  Ohio. — The  Spirit's  Presence. — Prayer. 
— Mary's  Reports. 

To  learn  an  unwritten  language,  and  to  reduce  it  to  a 
form  that  can  be  seen  as  well  as  heard,  is  confessedly  a 
work  of  no  small  magnitude.  Hitherto  it  has  seemed  to 
exist  only  in  sound.  But  it  has  been,  all  through  the 
past  ages,  worked  out  and  up  by  the  forges  of  human 
hearts.  It  has  been  made  to  express  the  lightest  thoughts 
as  well  as  the  heart  throbs  of  men  and  women  and  chil- 
dren in  their  generations.  The  human  mind,  in  its  most 
untutored  state,  is  God's  creation.  It  may  not  stamp 
purity  nor  even  goodness  on  its  language,  but  it  always, 
I  think,  stamps  it  with  the  deepest  philosophy.  So  far 
at  least,  language  is  of  divine  origin.  The  unlearned 
Dakota  may  not  be  able  to  give  any  definition  for  any 
single  word  that  he  has  been  using  all  his  lifetime — he 


36  MARY    AND    I. 

may  say,  "  It  means  that,  and  can't  mean  anything  else," 
— yet,  all  the  while,  in  the  mental  workshop  of  the  peo- 
ple, unconsciously  and  very  slowly  it  may  be,  but  no  less 
very  surely,  these  words  of  air  are  newly  coined.  No 
angle  can  turn  up,  but  by  and  by  it  will  be  worn  off  by 
use.  No  ungrammatical  expression  can  come  in,  that  will 
not  be  rejected  by  the  best  thinkers  and  speakers.  New 
words  will  be  coined  to  meet  the  mind's  wants;  and  new 
forms  of  expression,  which  at  the  first  are  bungling 
descriptions  only,  will  be  pared  down  and  tucked  up  so  as 
to  come  into  harmony  with  the  living  language. 

But  it  was  no  part  of  our  business  to  make  the  Dakota 
language.  It  was  simply  the  missionary's  work  to  report 
it  faithfully.  The  system  of  notation  had  in  the  main 
been  settled  upon  before  Mary  and  I  joined  the  mission. 
It  was  of  course  to  be  phonetic,  as  nearly  as  possible. 
The  English  alphabet  was  to  be  used  as  far  as  it  could 
be.  These  were  the  principles  that  guided  and  con- 
trolled the  writing  of  Dakota.  In  their  application  it 
was  soon  found  that  only  five  pure  vowel  sounds  were 
used.  So  far  the  work  was  easy.  Then  it  was  found 
that  x,  and  v,  and  r,  and  g,  and  j,  and  f,  and  c,  with  their 
English  powers,  were  not  needed.  But  there  were  four 
clicks  and  two  gutterals  and  a  nasal  that  must  in  some 
way  be  expressed.  It  was  then,  even  more  than  now,  a 
matter  of  pecuniary  importance,  that  the  language  to  be 
printed  should  require  as  few  new  characters  as  possible. 
And  so  "  n"  was  taken  to  represent  the  nasal;  "q"  rep- 
resented one  of  the  clicks;  "g"  and  "r"  represented 
the  gutterals;  and  "c"  and  "j"  and  "x"  were  used 
to  represent  "  ch,"  "zh"  and  "  sh."  The  other  clicks 
were  represented  by  marked  letters.  Since  that  time, 
some  changes  have  been  made;  x  and  r  have  been  dis- 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  37 

carded  from  the  purely  Dakota  alphabet.  In  the  Dakota 
grammar  and  dictionary,  which  was  published  fifteen 
years  afterward,  an  effort  was  made  to  make  the  notation 
philosophical,  and  accordant  with  itself.  The  changes 
which  have  since  been  adopted,  have  all  been  in  the  line 
of  the  dictionary. 

When  we  missionaries  had  gathered  and  expressed  and 
arranged  the  words  of  this  language,  what  had  we  to  put 
into  it,  and  what  great  gifts  had  we  for  the  Dakota  peo- 
ple? What  will  you  give  me?  has  always  been  their 
cry.  We  brought  to  them  the  Word  of  Life,  the  Gospel 
of  Salvation  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  as 
contained  in  the  Bible.  Not  to  preach  Christ  to  them  only, 
that  they  might  have  life,  but  to  engraft  His  living  words 
into  their  living  thoughts,  so  that  they  might  grow  into 
His  spirit  more  and  more,  was  the  object  of  our  coming. 
The  labor  of  writing  the  language  was  undertaken  as  a 
means  to  a  greater  end.  To  put  God's  thoughts  into 
their  speech,  and  to  teach  them  to  read  in  their  own 
tongue  the  wonderful  works  of  God,  was  what  brought 
us  to  the  land  of  the  Dakotas.  But  they  could  not  appre- 
ciate this.  Ever  and  anon  came  the  question,  What  will 
you  give  me?  And  so  when  we  would  proclaim  the  "  Old, 
old  Story  "  to  those  proud  Dakota  men  at  Lac-qui-parle, 
we  had  to  begin  with  kettles  of  boiled  pumpkins,  turnips 
and  potatoes.  The  bread  that  perisheth  could  be  appre- 
ciated— the  Bread  of  Life  was  still  beyond  their  compre- 
hension. But  by  and  by  it  was  to  find  its  proper  nesting 
place. 

It  was  very  fortunate  for  the  work  of  education  among 
the  Dakotas  that  it  had  such  a  staunch  and  influential 
friend  as  Joseph  Renville,  Sr.,  of  Lac-qui-parle.  It  was 
never  certainly  known  whether  Mr.  Renville  could  read 


38  MARY    AND    I. 

his  French  Bible  or  not.  But  he  had  seen  so  much  of 
the  advantages  of  education  among  the  white  people, 
that  he  greatly  desired  his  own  children  should  learn  to 
read  and  write,  both  in  Dakota  and  English,  and  through 
his  whole  life  gave  his  influence  in  favor  of  Dakota  edu- 
cation. Sarah  Poage,  afterward  Mrs.  G.  H.  Pond,  had 
come  as  a  teacher,  and  had,  from  their  first  arrival  at 
Lac-qui-parle,  been  so  employed.  Mr.  Renville  had  four 
daughters,  all  of  them  young  women,  who  had  with  some 
other  half-breeds,  made  an  English  class.  They  had 
learned  to  read  the  language,  but  understood  very  little 
of  it,  and  were  not  willing  to  speak  even  what  they 
understood.  All  through  these  years  the  teaching  of 
English,  commenced  at  the  beginning  of  our  mission 
work,  although  found  to  be  very  difficult  and  not  produc- 
ing much  apparent  fruit,  has  never  been  abandoned.  But 
for  the  purposes  of  civilization,  and  especially  of  Chris- 
tianization,  we  have  found  culture  in  the  native  tongue 
indispensable. 

To  teach  the  classes  in  English  was  in  Mary's  line  of 
life.  She  at  once  relieved  Miss  Poage  of  this  part  of  her 
work,  and  continued  in  it,  with  some  intervals,  for  several  • 
years.  Often  she  was  greatly  tried,  not  by  the  inability 
of  her  Dakota  young  lady  scholars,  but  by  their  unwill- 
ingness to  make  such  efforts  as  to  gain  the  mastery  of 
English. 

Teaching  in  Dakota  was  a  different  thing.  It  was  their 
own  language.  The  lessons  printed  with  open  type  and  a 
brush  on  old  newspapers,  and  hung  round  the  walls  of 
the  school-room,  were  words  that  had  a  meaning  even  to 
a  Dakota  child.  It  was  not  difficult.  A  young  man  has 
sometimes  come  in,  proud  and  unwilling  to  be  taught, 
but  by  sitting  there  and  looking  and  listening  to  others, 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  39 

he  has  started  up  with  the  announcement,  "  I  am  able." 
Some  small  books  had  already  been  printed.  Others  were 
afterward  provided.  But  the  work  of  works,  which  in 
some  sense  took  precedence  of  all  others,  was  then  com- 
mencing, and  has  not  yet  been  quite  completed — that  of 
putting  the  Bible  into  the  language  of  the  Dakotas. 

"Nov.  18,  1837. 

"  I  make  very  slow  progress  in  learning  Dakota,  and 
could  you  hear  the  odd  combinations  of  it  with  English 
which  we  allow  ourselves,  you  would  doubtless  be  some- 
what amused,  if  not  puzzled  to  guess  our  meaning,  though 
our  speech  would  betray  us,  for  the  little  Dakota  we  can 
use  we  cannot  speak  like  the  Indians.  The  peculiar 
tone  and  ease  are  wanting,  and  several  sounds  I  have 
been  entirely  unable  to  make;  so  that  in  my  case  at  least, 
there  would  be  '  shibboleths '  not  a  few.  And  these 
cause  the  Dakota  pupils  to  laugh  very  frequently  when  I 
am  trying  to  explain,  or  lead  them  to  understand  some  of 
the  most  simple  things  about  arithmetic.  Perhaps  you 
will  think  them  impolite,  and  so  should  I  if  they  had 
been  educated  in  a  civilized  land,  but  now  I  am  willing 
to  bear  with  them,  if  I  can  teach  them  anything  in  the 
hour  which  is  alotted  for  this  purpose. 

"  As  yet,  I  have  devoted  no  time  to  any  except  those 
who  are  attempting  to  learn  English,  and  my  class  will 
probably  consist  of  five  girls,  and  two  or  three  boys. 
Two  of  the  boys  whom  we  hope  will  learn  English  are 
full  Dakotas,  and  if  their  hearts  were  renewed,  might  be 
very  useful  as  preachers  of  the  Gospel  to  their  own 
degraded  people." 

Fort  Renville,  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  was  a  stock- 
ade, made  for  defense  in  case  of  an  invasion  by  the 


40  MARY   AND    I. 

Ojibwas,  who  had  been,  from  time  immemorial,  at  war 
with  the  Sioux.  Inside  of  this  stockade  stood  Mr.  Ren- 
ville's hewed  log  house,  consisting  of  a  storehouse  and 
two  dwellings.  Mr.  Renville's  reception  room  was  of 
good  size,  with  a  large  open  fire-place,  in  which  his 
Frenchmen,  or  "French-boys"  as  they  were  called  by 
the  Indians,  piled  an  enormous  quantity  of  wood  of  a 
cold  day,  setting  it  up  on  end,  and  thus  making  a  fire  to 
be  felt  as  well  as  seen.  Here  the  chief  Indian  men  of 
the  village  gathered  to  smoke  and  talk.  A  bench  ran 
almost  around  the  entire  room  on  which  they  sat  or  reclined' 
Mr.  Renville  usually  sat  on  a  chair  in  the  middle  of  the 
room.  He  was  a  small  man  with  rather  a  long  face  and 
head  developed  upward.  A  favorite  position  of  his  was 
to  sit  with  his  feet  crossed  under  him  like  a  tailor.  This 
room  was  the  place  of  Bible  translating.  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson and  Mr.  G.  H.  Pond  had  both  learned  to  read 
French.  The  former  usually  talked  with  Mr.  Renville  in 
French,  and,  in  the  work  of  translating,  read  from  the 
French  Bible,  verse  by  verse.  Mr.  Renville's  memory 
.  had  been  specially  cultivated  by  having  been  much 
employed  as  interpreter  between  the  Dakotas  and  the 
French.  It  seldom  happened  that  he  needed  to  have  the 
verse  re-read  to  him.  But  it  often  happened  that  we? 
who  wrote  the  Dakota  from  his  lips,  needed  to  have  it 
repeated  in  order  that  we  should  get  it  exactly  and  fully. 
When  the  verse  or  sentence  was  finished,  the  Dakota  was 
read  by  one  of  the  company.  We  were  all  only  begin" 
ners  in  writing  the  Dakota  language,  and  I  more  than 
the  others.  Sometimes  Mr.  Renville  showed,  by  the 
twinkle  of  his  eye,  his  conscious  superiority  to  us,  when 
he  repeated  a  long  and  difficult  sentence,  and  found  that 
we  had  forgotten  the  beginning.  But  ordinarily  he  was 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  41 

patient  with  us  and  ready  to  repeat.  By  this  process, 
continued  from  week  to  week  during  that  first  winter  of 
ours  at  Lac-qui-parle,  a  pretty  good  translation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Mark  was  completed,  besides  some  fugitive 
chapters  from  other  parts.  In  the  two  following  winters 
the  Gospel  of  John  was  made  in  the  same  way. 

Besides  giving  these  portions  of  the  Word  of  God  to 
the  Dakotas  sooner  than  it  could  have  been  done  by  the 
missionaries  alone,  these  translations  were  invaluable  to  us 
as  a  means  of  studying  the  structure  of  the  language, 
and  as  determining,  in  advance  of  our  own  efforts  in  this 
line,  the  forms  or  molds  of  many  new  ideas  which  the 
Word  contains.  In  after  years  we  always  felt  safe  in 
referring  to  Mr.  Renville  as  authority  in  regard  to  the 
form  of  a  Dakota  expression. 

During  this  first  year  that  Mary  and  I  spent  in  the 
Dakota  country,  there  were  coming  to  us  continually  new 
experiences.  One  of  the  most  common,  and  yet  one  of  the 
most  thrilling  and  abiding,  was  in  the  birth  of  our  first  born. 
In  motherhood  and  fatherhood  are  found  large  lessons  in 
life.  The  mother  called  her  first  born  child  Alfred  Long- 
ley,  naming  him  for  a  very  dear  brother  of  hers.  The 
Dakotas  named  this  baby  boy  of  ours  Good  Bird  (Zitka- 
dari  washtay).  They  said  that  was  a  good  name.  In 
those  days  it  was  a  habit  with  them  to  give  names  to  the 
white  people  who  came  among  them.  Dr.  Williamson 
they  called  Payjehoota  wechasta — Medicine  man,  or  more 
literally  Grass-root  man— that  is  Doctor.  To  Mr.  G.  H. 
Pond  they  gave  the  name  Matohota,  Grizzly-bear.  Mr. 
S.  W.  Pond  was  Wamdedoota,  Red-eagle.  To  me  they 
gave  the  name  of  Tamakoche,  His  country.  They  said 
some  good  Dakota  long  ago  had  borne  that  name.  To 
Mary  they  gave  the  name  of  Payuha.  At  first  they  gut- 


42  MARY   AND    I. 

teralized  the  "  h,"  which  made  it  mean  Curly-head — her 
black  hair  did  curl  a  good  deal ;  but  afterward  they  nat- 
uralized the  "  h,"  and  said  it  meant  Having -a- head. 

The  winter  as  it  passed  by  had  other  lessons  for  us. 
For  me  it  was  quite  a  chore  to  cut  and  carry  up  wood 
enough  to  keep  our  somewhat  open  upper  room  cozy  and 
comfortable.  Mary  had  more  ambition  than  I  had  to  get 
native  help.  She  had  not  been  accustomed  to  do  a  day's 
washing.  It  came  hard  to  her.  The  other  women  of  the 
mission  preferred  to  wash  for  themselves  rather  than 
train  natives  to  do  it.  And  indeed,  at  the  beginning, 
that  was  found  to  be  no  easy  task.  For  in  the  first  place, 
Dakota  women  did  not  wash.  Usually  they  put  on  a 
garment  and  wore  it  until  it  rotted  off.  This  was  pretty 
much  the  rule.  No  good,  decent  woman  could  be  found 
willing  to  do  for  white  people  what  they  did  not  do  for 
themselves.  We  could  hire  all  the  first  women  of  the 
village  to  hoe  corn  or  dig  potatoes,  but  not  one  would 
take  hold  of  the  wash-tub.  And  so  it  was  that  Mary's 
first  washer-women  were  of  the  lowest  class  and  not  very 
reputable  characters.  But  she  persevered  and  conquered. 
Only  a  few  years  had  passed  when  the  wash- women  of 
the  mission  were  of  the  best  women  of  the  village.  And 
the  effort  proved  a  great  public  benefaction.  The  gos- 
pel of  soap  was  indeed  a  necessary  adjunct  and  outgrowth 
of  the  Gospel  of  Salvation. 

"Dec.  13. 

"  My  first  use  of  the  pen  since  the  peculiar  manifesta- 
tion of  God's  loving  kindness,  we  have  so  recently 
experienced,  shall  be  for  you,  my  dear  parents.  That 
you  will  with  us  bless  the  Lord,  as  did  the  Psalmist  in 
one  of  my  favorite  Psalms,  the  103d,  we  do  not  doubt  ; 
for  I  am  sure  you  will  regard  my  being  able  so  soon  to 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  43 

write  as  a  proof  of  God's  tender  mercy.  I  have  been 
very  comfortable  most  of  the  time  during  the  past  week. 
As  our  little  one  cries,  and  I  am  now  his  chief  nurse,  I 
must  lay  aside  my  pen  and  paper  and  attend  to  his 
wants,  for  Mr.  Riggs  is  absent,  procuring,  with  Dr. 
W.  and  Mr.  Pond,  the  translation  of  Mark,  from  Mr. 
Renville." 

"Dec.  28. 

"  Yesterday  our  dear  little  babe  was  three  weeks  old. 
I  washed  with  as  little  fatigue  as  I  could  expect,  still  I 
should  have  thought  it  right  to  have  employed  some  one; 
was  there  any  one  to  be  employed  who  could  be  trusted. 
But  the  Dakota  women,  besides  not  knowing  how  to 
wash,  need  constant  and  vigilant  watching.  Poor  crea- 
tures, thieves  from  habit,  and  from  a  kind  of  necessity, 
though  one  of  their  own  creating !  " 

"Jan.  10. 

"  The  Dakota  tent  is  formed  of  buffalo  skins,  stretched 
on  long  poles  placed  on  the  ground  in  a  circle,  and 
meeting  at  the  top,  where  a  hole  is  left  from  which  the 
smoke  of  the  fire  in  the  center  issues.  Others  are  made 
of  bark  tied  to  the  poles  placed  in  a  similar  manner.  A 
small  place  is  left  for  a  door  of  skin  stretched  on  sticks 
and  hinged  with  strings  at  the  top,  so  that  the  person 
entering  raises  it  from  the  bottom  and  crawls  in.  At 
this  season  of  the  year  the  door  is  protected  by  a  covered 
passage  formed  by  stakes  driven  into  the  ground  several 
feet  apart,  and  thatched  with  grass.  Here  they  keep 
their  wood  which  the  women  cut  this  cold  weather,  the 
thermometer  at  eighteen  to  twenty  degrees  below  zero. 
And  should  you  lift  the  little  door,  you  would  find  a  cold, 
smoky  lodge  about  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  a  mother  and 


44  MARY   AND    I. 

her  child,  a  blanket  or  two,  or  a  skin,  a  kettle,  and  pos- 
sibly a  sack  of  corn  in  some  of  them." 

"  Thursday  Eve.,  Jan.  11. 

"  Quite  unexpectedly,  this  afternoon,  we  received  an 
invitation  to  a  wedding  at  Mr.  Reiiville's,  one  of  his 
daughters  marrying  a  Frenchman.  We  gladly  availed 
ourselves  of  an  ox-sled,  the  only  vehicle  we  could  com- 
mand, and  a  little  before  three  o'clock  we  were  in  the 
guest  chamber.  Mr.  Renville,  who  is  part  Dakota,  re- 
ceived us  with  French  politeness,  and  soon  after  the  rest 
of  the  family  entered.  These,  with  several  Dakota  men 
and'women  seated  on  benches,  or  on  the  floor  around  the 
room,  formed  not  an  uninteresting  group.  The  marriage 
ceremony  was  in  French  and  Dakota,  and  was  soon  over. 
Then  the  bridegroom  rose,  shook  hands  with  his  wife's 
relations,  and  kissed  her  mother,  and  she  also  kissed  all 
her  father's  family. 

"When  supper  was  announced  as  ready,  we  repaired  to 
a  table  amply  supplied  with  beef  and  mutton,  potatoes, 
bread  and  tea.  Though  some  of  them  were  not  pre- 
pared as  they  would  have  been  in  the  States,  they  did 
not  seem  as  singular  as  a  dish  that  I  was  unable  to  deter- 
mine what  it  could  be,  until  an  additional  supply  of 
blood was  offered  me.  I  do  not  know  how  it  was  cooked, 
though  it  might  have  been  fried  with  pepper  and  onions, 
and  I  am  told  it  is  esteemed  as  very  good.  The  poor 
Indians  throw  nothing  away,  whether  of  beast  or  bird, 
but  consider  both  inside  and  outside  delicious  broiled  on 
the  coals." 

"April  5th. 

"  Yesterday  afternoon  Mrs.  Pond  and  myself  walked 
to  'the  lodges.'  As  the  St.  Peter's  now  covers  a  large 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  45 

part  of  the  bottom,  we  wound  our  way  in  the  nar- 
row Indian  path  on  the  side  of  the  hill.  An  Indian 
woman,  with  her  babe  fastened  upon  its  board  at  her 
back,  walked  before  us,  and  as  the  grass  on  each  side  of 
the  foot  path  made  it  uncomfortable  walking  side  by  side, 
we  conformed  to  Dakota  custom,  one  following  the  other. 
For  a  few  moments  we  kept  pace  with  our  guide,  but  she 
soon  outstripping  us,  turned  a  corner  arid  was  out  of 
sight.  As  we  wished  for  a  view  of  the  lake  and  river, 
we  climbed  the  hill.  There  we  saw  the  St.  Peter's,  which 
in  the  summer  is  a  narrow  and  shallow  stream,  extending 
over  miles  of  land,  with  here  and  there  a  higher  spot 
peeping  out  as  an  island  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 
The  haze  prevented  our  having  a  good  view  of  the  lake. 

"  After  counting  thirty  lodges  stretched.along  below  us, 
we  descended  and  entered  one,  wkere  we  found  a  sick 
woman,  who  said  she  had  not  sat  up  for  a  long  time, 
lying  on  a  little  bundle  of  hay.  Another  lodge  we  found 
full  of  corn,  the  owners  having  subsisted  on  deer  and 
other  game  while  absent  during  the  winter. 

"When  we  had  called  at  Mr.  Renville's,  which  was  a 
little  beyond,  we  returned  through  the  heart  of  the  vil- 
lage, attended  by  such  a  retinue  as  I  have  never  before 
seen,  and  such  strange  intermingling  of  laughing  and 
shouting  of  children  and  barking  of  dogs  as  I  never 
heard.  Amazed,  and  almost  deafened  by  the  clamor,  I 
turned  to  gaze  upon  the  unique  group.  Some  of  the 
older  girls  were  close  upon  our  heels,  but  as  we  stopped 
they  also  halted,  and  those  behind  slackened  their  pace. 
Boys  and  girls  of  from  four  to  twelve  years  of  age,  some 
wrapped  in  their  blankets,  more  without,  and  quite  a 
number  of  boys  almost  or  entirely  destitute  of  clothing, 
with  a  large  number  of  dogs  of  various  sizes  and  colors, 


46  MARY    AND    I. 

presented  themselves  in  an  irregular  line.  As  all  of  the 
Indians  here  have  pitched  their  lodges  together,  I  sup- 
pose there  might  have  been  thirty  or  forty  children  in 
our  train.  When  we  reached  home  I  found  little  Alfred 
happy  and  quiet  in  the  same  place  on  the  bed  I  had  left 
him  more  than  two  hours  previous,  his  father  having  been 
busy  studying  Dakota. 

"This  evening  two  Indian  women  came  and  sat  a  little 
while  in  our  happy  home.  One  of  them  had  a  babe 
about  the  age  of  Alfred.  You  would  have  smiled  to  see 
the  plump,  undressed  child  peeping  out  from  its  warm 
blanket  like  a  little  unfledged  bird  from  its  mossy  nest." 

Mr.  Pond  had  long  been  yearning  to  see  inside  of  an 
Indian.  He  had  been  wanting  to  be  an  Indian,  if  only 
for  half  an  hour,  that  he  might  know  how  an  Indian  felt, 
and  by  what  motives  Jae  could  be  moved.  And  so  when 
the  early  spring  of  1838  came,  and  the  ducks  began  to 
come  northward,  a  half  dozen  families  started  out  from 
Lac-qui-parle  to  hunt  and  trap  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
Chippewa  River,  in  the  neighborhood  of  where  is  now  the 
town  of  Benson,  in  Minnesota.  Mr.  Pond  went  with 
them,  and  was  gone  two  weeks.  It  was  in  the  first  of 
April,  and  the  streams  were  flooded,  and  the  water  was 
cold.  There  should  have  been  enough  of  game  easily 
obtained,  to  feed  the  party  well.  So  the  Indians  thought. 
But  it  did  not  prove  so.  A  cold  spell  came  on,  the  ducks 
disappeared,  and  Mr.  Pond  and  his  Indian  hunters  were 
reduced  to  scanty  fare,  and  sometimes  to  nothing,  for  a 
whole  day.  But  Mr.  Pond  was  seeing  inside  of  Indians, 
and  was  quite  willing  to  starve  a  good  deal  in  the  pro- 
cess. However,  his  stay  with  them,  and  their  hunt  for 
that  time  as  well,  was  suddenly  terminated. 

It  appears  that  during  the  winter  some  rumors  of  peace 


FOKTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  47 

visits  from  the  Ojibwas  had  reached  the  Dakotas,  so  that 
this  hunting  party  were  somewhat  prepared  to  meet 
Ojibwas  who  should  come  with  this  announced  purpose. 
The  half  dozen  teepees  had  divided.  Mr.  Pond  was  with 
Round  Wind,  who  had  removed  from  the  three  teepees  that 
remained.  On  Thursday  evening  there  came  Hole-in-the- 
day,  an  Ojibwa  chief,  with  ten  men.  They  had  come  to 
smoke  the  peace-pipe,  they  said.  The  three  Dakota 
tents  contained  but  three  men  and  ten  or  eleven  women 
and  children.  But,  while  starving  themselves,  they  would 
entertain  their  visitors  in  the  most  royal  style.  Two 
dogs  were  killed  and  they  were  feasted,  and  then  all  lay 
down  to  rest.  But  the  Ojibwas  were  false.  They  arose 
at  midnight  and  killed  their  Dakota  hosts.  In  the  morn- 
ing but  one  woman  and  a  boy  remained  alive  of  the 
fourteen  in  the  three  teepees  the  night  before,  and  the 
boy  was  badly  wounded.  It  was  a  cowardly  act  of  the 
Ojibwas,  and  one  that  was  terribly  avenged  after- 
ward. When  Mr.  Pond  had  helped  to  bury  the  dead  and 
mangled  remains  of  these  three  families,  he  started  for 
home,  and  was  the  first  to  bring  the  sad  news  to  their 
friends  at  Lac-qui-parle.  To  him  quite  an  experience 
was  bound  up  in  those  two  weeks,  and  the  marvel  was, 
why  he  was  not  then  among  the  slain.  To  Mary  and  me 
it  opened  a  whole  storehouse  of  instruction,  as  we  lis- 
tened to  the  wail  of  the  whole  village,  and  especially 
when  the  old  women  came  with  disheveled  heads  and 
ragged  clothes,  and  cried  and  sang  around  our  house,  and 
begged  in  the  name  of  our  first  born.  We  discovered  all 
at  once  the  power  of  a  name.  And  if  an  earthly  name 
has  such  power,  much  more  the  Name  that  is  above  every 
name — much  more  the  Name  of  the  Only  Begotten  of 
the  Heavenly  Father. 


48  MARY    AND    I. 

Lac-qui-parle  was  in  those  days  much  shut  out  from 
the  great  world.  We  were  two  hundred  miles  away 
from  our  post-office  at  Fort  Snelling.  We  seldom 
received  a  letter  from  Massachusetts  or  Ohio  in  less  than 
three  months  after  it  was  written.  Often  it  was  much 
longer,  for  there  were  several  times  during  our  stay  at 
Lac-qui-parle  when  we  passed  three  months,  and  once 
five  months,  without  a  mail.  We  used  to  pray  that  the 
mail  would  not  come  in  the  evening.  If  it  did,  good- 
bye sleep!  If  it  came  in  the  early  part  of  the  day  we 
could  look  it  over  and  become  quieted  by  night.  Our 
communication  with  the  post-office  was  generally  through 
the  men  engaged  in  the  fur  trade.  Some  of  them  had  no 
sympathy  with  us  as  missionaries,  but  they  were  ever  will- 
ing to  do  us  a  favor  as  men  and  Americans.  Sometimes 
we  sent  and  received  our  mail  by  Indians.  That  was  a 
very  costly  way.  The  postage  charged  by  the  govern- 
ment— although  it  was  then  twenty-five  cents  on  a  letter 
— was  no  compensation  for  a  Dakota  in  those  days.  It 
is  fortunate  for  them  that  they  have  learned  better  the 
value  of  work. 

Once  a  year,  at  least,  it  seemed  best  that  one  of  our- 
selves should  go  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota. 
Our  annual  supplies  were  to  be  brought  up,  and  various 
matters  of  business  transacted.  I  was  sent  down  in  the 
spring  of  1838,  and  I  considered  myself  fortunate  in 
having  the  company  of  Rev.  S.  W.  Pond.  This  was  Mr. 
Pond's  second  visit  to  Lac-qui-parle  on  foot.  The  first 
was  made  over  two  years  before  in  midwinter.  That 
was  a  fearful  journey.  What  with  ignorance  of  the 
country,  and  deep  snows,  and  starvation,  and  an  ugly 
Indian  for  his  guide,  Mr.  Pond  came  near  reaching  the 
spirit  land  before  he  came  to  Lac-qui-parle. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  49 

This  second  time  he  came  under  better  auspices,  and 
having  spent  several  weeks  with  us,  during  which  many 
questions  of  interest  with  regard  to  the  language  and  the 
mission  work  were  discussed,  he  and  I  made  a  part  of 
Mr.  Renville's  caravan  to  the  fur  depot  of  the  American 
Fur  Company  at  Mendota,  in  charge  of  H.  H.  Sibley,  a 
manly  man,  since  that  time  occupying  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  Minnesota. 

To  make  this  trip  I  was  furnished  by  the  mission  with 
a  valuable  young  horse,  gentle  and  kind,  but  not  pos- 
sessed of  much  endurance.  At  any  rate,  he  took  sick 
while  I  was  away  and  never  reached  home.  The  result 
may  have  been  owing  a  good  deal  to  my  want  of  skill  in 
taking  care  of  horses,  and  in  traveling  through  the  bogs 
and  quagmires  of  this  new  country.  I  could  not  but  be 
profoundly  sorry  when  obliged  to  leave  him,  as  it  entailed 
upon  me  other  hardships  for  which  I  was  not  well  pre- 
pared. Reaching  the  Traverse  des  Sioux  on  foot,  I  found 
Joseph  R.  Brown,  even  then  an  old  Indian  trader,  coming 
up  with  some  led  horses.  He  kindly  gave  me  the  use  of 
two  with  which  to  bring  up  my  loaded  cart.  That  was  a 
really  Good  Samaritan  work,  which  I  have  always  re- 
membered with  gratitude. 

WTien  the  first  snows  were  beginning  to  fall  in  the 
coming  winter,  and  not  till  then,  Dr.  Williamson  was 
ready  to  make  his  trip  on  to  Ohio.  The  Gospel  of  Mark 
and  some  smaller  portions  of  the  Bible  he  had  prepared 
for  the  press.  The  journey  was  undertaken  a  few  weeks 
too  late,  and  so  it  proved  a  very  hard  one.  They  thought 
to  go  down  the  Mississippi  in  a  Mackinaw  boat,  but  were 
frozen  in  before  they  reached  Lake  Pepin.  From  that 
point  the  entire  journey  to  Ohio  was  made  by  land  in  the 
rigors  of  winter. 


50  MARY   AND    I. 

The  leaving  of  Dr.  Williamson  entailed  upon  me  the 
responsibility  of  taking  care  of  the  Sabbath  service.  Mr. 
G.  H.  Pond  was  not  then  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  but 
his  superior  knowledge  of  the  Dakota  fitted  him  the  best 
to  communicate  religious  instruction.  But  it  was  well 
for  me  to  have  the  responsibility,  as  it  helped  me  in  the 
use  of  the  native  tongue.  I  was  often  conscious  of 
making  mistakes,  and  doubtless  made  many  that  I  knew 
not  of.  Mr.  Pond  and  Mr.  Renville  were  ever  ready  to 
help  me  out,  and,  moreover,  we  had  with  us  that  winter 
Rev.  Daniel  Gavan,  one  of  the  Swiss  missionaries,  who 
had  settled  on  the  Mississippi  River  at  Red  Wing  and 
Wabashaw's  villages.  Mr.  G.  came  up  to  avail  himself 
of  the  better  advantages  in  learning  the  language,  and 
so  for  the  winter  he  was  a  valuable  helper. 

It  pleased  God  to  make  this  winter  one  of  fruitfulness. 
Mr.  Renville  was  active  in  persuading  those  under  his 
influence  to  attend  the  religious  meetings,  the  school- 
room was  crowded  on  Sabbaths,  and  the  Word,  imper- 
fectly as  it  was  spoken,  was  used  by  the  Spirit  upon 
those  dark  minds.  There  was  evidently  a  quickening  of 
the  church.  They  were  interested  in  prayer.  What  is 
prayer — and  how  shall  we  pray?  became  questions  of 
interest  with  them.  One  woman  who  had  received  at 
her  baptism  the  name  of  Catherine,  and  who  still  lives  a 
believing  life  at  the  end  of  forty  years,  was  then  troubled 
to  know  how  prayer  could  reach  God.  I  told  her  in  this 
we  were  all  little  children.  God  recognized  our  condi- 
tion in  this  respect,  and  had  told  us  that,  as  earthly 
fathers  and  mothers  were  willing,  and  desirous  of  giving 
good  gifts  to  their  children,  He  was  more  willing  to  give 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  Him.'  Besides,  He  made 


FOKTY    YEARS    WITH    THE  SIOUX.  51 

the  ear,  and  shall  He  not  hear?  He  made,  in  a  large 
sense,  all  language,  and  shall  He  not  be  able  to  under- 
stand Dakota  words?  The  very  word  for  "pray"  in  the 
Dakota  language  was  "to  cry  to" — chakiya.  Prayer 
was  now,  as  through  all  ages  it  had  been,  the  child's  cry 
in  the  ear  of  the  Great  Father.  So  there  appeared  to  be 
a  working  upward  of  many  hearts.  Early  in  February 
Mr.  Pond,  Mr.  Renville  and  Mr.  Huggins,  Mr.  Gavan  and 
myself,  after  due  examination  and  instruction,  agreed  to 
receive  ten  Dakotas  into  the  church — all  women.  I  bap- 
tized them  and  their  children — twenty-eight  in  all — on 
one  Sabbath  morning.  It  was  to  us  a  day  of  cheer.  To 
these  Dakota  gentiles  also  God  had  indeed  opened  the 
door  of  faith.  Blessed  be  his  name  for  ever  and  ever. 

"Dec.  6,  1838. 

"This  is  our  little  Alfred's  natal  day.  He  of  course 
has  received  no  birthday  sugar  or  earthen  toys,  and  his 
only  gift  of  such  a  kind  has  been  a  very  small  bow  and 
arrow,  from  an  Indian  man,  who  is  a  frequent  visitor. 
The  bow  is  about  three-eights  of  a  yard  long  and  quite 
neatly  made,  but  Alfred  uses  it  as  he  would  any  other 
little  stick.  I  do  not  feel  desirous  that  he  should  prize  a 
bow  or  a  gun,  as  do  these  sons  of  the  prairie.  My  prayer 
is,  that  he  may  early  become  a  lamb  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd's fold,  that  while  he  lives  he  may  be  kept  from  the 
fierce  wolf  and  hungry  lion,  and  at  length  be  taken  home 
to  the  green  pastures  and  still  waters  above." 

"  Feb.  9,  1839. 

"We  mentioned  in  our  last  encouraging  prospects  here. 
The  forenoon  schools,  which  are  for  misses  and  children, 
have  some  days  been  crowded  during  the  few  past  weeks, 


52  MAKY   AND    I. 

and  a  Sabbath-school  recently  opened  has  been  so  well 
attended  as  to  encourage  our  hopes  of  blessed  results. 
Last  Lord's  day  we  had  a  larger  assembly  than  have  ever 
before  met  for  divine  worship  in  this  heathen  land.  More 
than  eighty  were  present." 

As  Mr.  Gavan  was  a  native  Frenchman  and  a  scholar, 
we  expected  much  from  his  presence  with  us,  during  the 
winter,  in  the  way  of  obtaining  translations.  He  and 
Mr.  Renville  could  communicate  fully  and  freely  through 
that  language,  and  we  believed  he  would  be  able  to  ex- 
plain such  words  as  were  not  well  understood  by  the 
other.  And  so  we  commenced  the  translation  of  the 
Gospel  of  John  from  the  French.  But  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  the  perfection  of  knowledge,  of  which  they 
both  supposed  themselves  possessed,  was  a  great  bar  to 
progress.  And  by  the  time  we  had  reached  the  end  of 
the  seventh  chapter,  the  relations  of  the  two  Frenchmen 
were  such  as  to  entirely  stop  our  work.  We  were  quite 
disappointed.  But  this  event  induced  us  the  sooner  to 
gird  ourselves  for  the  work  of  translating  the  Bible  from 
the  original  tongues,  and  so  was,  in  the  end,  a  blessing. 


FORTY   TEAES    WITH    THE   SIOUX.  53 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1838-1840.— "  Eagle  Help."— His  Power  as  War  Prophet.— Makes 
No-Flight  Dance. — We  Pray  Against  It. — Unsuccessful  on 
the  War  Path.— Their  Kevenge.— Jean  Nicollet  and  J.  C. 
Fremont. — Opposition  to  Schools. — Progress  in  Teaching. — 
Method  of  Counting.— "Lake  that  Speaks  "—Our  Trip  to 
Fort  Snelling.— Incidents  of  the  Way.— The  Changes  There. 
— Our  Return  Journey. — Birch  Bark  Canoe. — Mary's  Story. — 
"  Le  Grand  Canoe." — Baby  Born  on  the  Way. — Walking  Ten 
Miles. — Advantages  of  Travel. — My  Visit  to  the  Missouri 
River.— "Fort  Pierre."— Results. 

"  Eagle  Help  "  was  a  good  specimen  of  a  war  prophet 
and  war  leader  among  the  Dakotas.  At  the  time  of  the 
commencement  of  the  mission  he  was  a  man  of  family 
and  in  middle  age,  but  he  was  the  first  man  to  learn  to 
read  and  write  his  language.  And  from  the  very  first, 
no  one  had  clearer  apprehensions  of  the  advantages  of 
that  attainment.  He  soon  became  one  of  the  best  helps 
in  studying  the  Dakota,  and  the  best  critical  helper  in 
translations.  He  wanted  good  pay  for  a  service,  but  he 
was  ever  ready  to  do  it,  and  always  reliable.  When  my 
horse  failed  me,  on  the  trip  up  from  Fort  Snelling,  and  I 
had  walked  fifty  miles,  Eagle  Help  was  ready  for  a  con- 
sideration (my  waterproof  coat),  to  go  on  foot  and  bring 
up  the  baggage  I  had  left.  And  in  the  early  spring  of 
1839,  when  Mr.  Pond  would  remove  his  family — wife  and 
child — to  join  his  brother  in  the  work  near  Fort  Snelling, 


54:  MARY   AND    I. 

Eagle  Help  was  the  man  to  pilot  his  canoe  down  the 
Minnesota. 

But  notwithstanding  his  readiness  to  learn  and  to 
impart,  to  receive  help  and  give  help — notwithstanding 
his  knowledge  of  the  "  new  way,"  of  which  his  wife  was 
a  follower,  and  his  near  relations  to  us  in  our  missionary 
work,  he  did  not,  at  once,  abandon  his  Dakota  customs, 
one  of  which  was  going  on  the  war  path. 

As  a  war  prophet,  he  claimed  to  be  able  to  get  into 
communication  with  the  spirit  world,  and  thus  to  be 
made  a  seer.  After  fasting  and  praying  and  dancing  the 
circle  dance,  a  vision  of  the  enemies  he  sought  to  kill 
would  come  to  him.  He  was  made  to  see  in  this  trance, 
or  dream,  whichever  it  might  be,  the  whole  panorama, 
the  river  or  lake,  the  prairie  or  wood,  and  the  Ojibwas  in 
canoes  or  on  the  land,  and  the  spirit  in  the  vision  said  to 
him,  "Up  Eagle  Help  and  kill."  This  vision  and 
prophecy  had  heretofore  never  failed,  he  said. 

And  so  when  he  came  back  from  escorting  Mr.  Gavan 
and  Mr.  Pond  to  the  Mississippi  River,  he  determined  to 
get  up  a  war  party.  He  made  his  "yoomne  wachepe*' 
(circle  dance),  in  which  the  whole  village  participated — 
he  dreamed  his  dream,  he  saw  his  vision,  and  was  con- 
fident of  a  successful  campaign.  About  a  score  of  young 
men  painted  themselves  for  the  war;  they  fasted  and 
feasted  and  drilled  by  dancing  the  no-flight  dance,  and 
made  their  hearts  firm  by  hearing  the  brave  deeds  of 
older  warriors,  who  were  now  " hors  de  combat'*  by  age. 

In  the 'mean  time,  the  thought  that  our  good  friend 
Eagle  Help  should  lead  out  a  war  party  to  kill  and  mangle 
Ojibwa  women  and  children,  greatly  troubled  us.  \Ve 
argued  and  entreated,  but  our  words  were  not  heeded. 
Among  other  things  we  said  we  would  pray  that  the  war 


FORTY   YEAKS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  55 

party  might  not  be  successful.  That  was  too  much  of  a 
menace.  Added  to  this  they  came  and  asked  Mr. 
Huggins  to  grind  corn  for  them  on  our  little  ox-power 
mill,  which  he  refused  to  do.  They  were  greatly  enraged, 
and  just  before  they  started  out,  they  killed  and  ate  two 
of  the  mission  cows.  After  a  rather  long  and  difficult 
tramp  they  returned  without  having  seen  an  Ojibwa. 
Their  failure  they  attributed  entirely  to  our  prayers,  and 
so,  as  they  returned  ashamed,  they  took  off  the  edge  of 
their  disgrace  by  killing  another  of  our  unoffending 
animals. 

After  this  it  was  some  months  before  Eagle  Help  could 
again  be  our  friend  and  helper.  In  the  meantime,  Dr. 
Williamson  and  his  family  returned  from  Ohio,  bringing 
with  them  Miss  Fanny  Huggins,  to  be  a  teacher  in  the 
place  of  Mrs.  Pond.  Miss  Huggins  afterward  became 
Mrs.  Jonas  Pettijohn,  and  both  she  and  her  husband  were 
for  many  years  valuable  helpers  in  the  mission  work. 
Also,  this  summer  brought  to  Lac-qui-parle  such 
distinguished  scientific  gentlemen  as  Mons.  Jean  Nicollet 
and  J.  C.  Fremont.  Mr.  Nicollet  took  an  interest  in  our 
war  difficulty,  and  of  his  own  motion  made  arrangements, 
in  behalf  of  the  Indians,  to  pay  for  the  mission  cattle 
destroyed.  And  so  that  glory  and  that  shame  were  alike 
forgotten.  In  after  years  Eagle  Help  affirmed  that  his 
power  of  communicating  with  the  spirit  world,  as  a  war 
prophet,  was  destroyed  by  his  knowledge  of  letters  and 
the  religion  of  the  Bible.  Shall  we  accept  that  as  true? 
And  if  so,  what  shall  we  say  of  modern  spiritism?  Is  it 
in  accord  with  living  a  true  Christian  life? 

Thus  events  succeeded  each  other  rapidly.  But  Mary 
and  I  and  the  baby  boy,  "  Good  Bird,"  lived  still  in  the 
"  upper  chamber,"  and  were  not  ashamed  to  invite  the 


56  MAftY    AND    I. 

French  savant,  Jean  Nicollet,  to  come  and  take  tea  with 
us. 

During  these  first  years  of  missionary  work  at  Lac-qui- 
parle,  the  school  was  well  attended.  It  was  only  once  in 
a  while  that  the  voice  of  opposition  was  raised  against  the 
children.  Occasionally  some  one  would  come  up  from 
below  and  tell  about  the  fight  that  was  going  on  there 
against  the  Treaty  appropriation  for  Education. 

The  missionaries  down  there  were  charged  with  wanting 
to  get  hold  of  the  Indians'  money;  and  so  the  provision 
for  education,  made  by  the  treaty  of  1837,  effectually 
blocked  all  efforts  at  teaching  among  those  lower  Sioux. 
What  should  have  been  a  help  became  a  great  hindrance. 
Indians  and  traders  joined  to  oppose  the  use  of  that  fund 
for  the  purpose  it  was  intended,  and  finally  the  govern- 
ment yielded  and  turned  over  the  accumulated  money  to 
be  distributed  among  themselves.  The  Wahpatons  of 
Lac-qui-parle  had  no  interest  in  that  treaty  ;  and  had  yet 
made  no  treaty  with  the  government;  and  had  not  a  red 
cent  of  money  anywhere  that  missionaries  could,  by  any 
hook  or  crook,  lay  hold  of :  nevertheless  it  was  easy  to 
get  up  a  fear  and  belief;  for  was  it  possible  that  white 
men  and  women  would  come  here  and  teach  year  after 
year,  and  not  expect,  in  some  way  and  at  some  time,  to 
get  money  out  of  them  ?  If  they  ever  made  a  treaty,  and 
sold  land  to  the  government,  would  not  the  missionaries 
bring  in  large  bills  against  them?  It  was  easy  to  work 
up  this  matter  in  their  own  minds,  and  make  it  all  seem 
true,  and  the  result  was,  the  soldiers  were  ordered  to  stop 
the  children  from  coming  to  school.  There  were  some 
such  moods  as  this  and  our  school  had  a  vacation.  But 
the  absurdity  appeared  pretty  soon  and  the  children  were 
easily  induced  to  come  back. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  57 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pond  were  now  gone.  For  the  next 
winter,  Mary  and  Miss  Fanny  Huggins  took  care  of  the 
girls  and  younger  boys,  and  Mr.  Huggins,  with  such 
assistance  as  I  could  give,  took  care  of  the  boys  and 
young  men.  The  women  also  undertook,  under  the 
instruction  of  Mrs.  Huggins  and  Miss  Fanny,  to  spin,  and 
knit,  and  weave.  Mr.  Renville  had  already  among  his 
flock  some  sheep.  The  wool  was  here  and  the  flax  was 
soon  grown.  Spinning-wheels  and  knitting-needles  were 
brought  on,  and  Mr.  Huggins  manufactured  a  loom.  They 
knit  socks  and  stockings,  and  wove  skirts  and  blankets, 
while  the  little  girls  learned  to  sew  patchwork  and  make 
quilts.  All  this  was  of  advantage  as  education. 

My  own  special  effort  in  the  class-room  during  the  first 
years  was  in  teaching  a  knowledge  of  figures.  The  lan- 
guage of  counting  in  Dakota  was  limited.  The  "  wan- 
cha,  nonpa,  yamne  " — one,  two,  three,  up  to  ten,  every 
child  learned,  as  he  bent  down  his  fingers  and  thumbs 
until  all  were  gathered  into  two  bunches,  and  then  let 
them  loose  as  geese  flying  away.  Eleven  was  ten  more 
one,  and  so  on.  Twenty  was  ten  twos  or  twice  ten,  and 
thirty,  ten  threes.  With  each  ten  the  fingers  were  all 
bent  down,  and  one  was  kept  down  to  remember  the  ten. 
Thus  when  ten  tens  were  reached,  the  whole  of  the  two- 
hands  was  bent  down,  each  finger  meaning  ten.  This 
was  the  perfected  "bending  down."  It  was  opawinge — 
one  hundred.  Then  when  the  hands  were  both  bent 
down  for  hundreds,  the  climax  was  supposed  to  be  reached,, 
which  could  only  be  expressed  by  "  again  also  bending 
down."  When  something  larger  than  this  was  reached, 
it  was  a  great  count — something  which  they  nor  we  can 
comprehend — a  million. 

On  the  other  side  of  one  the   Dakota  language  is  still 


58  MARY    AND    I. 

more  defective.  Only  one  word  of  any  definiteness  ex- 
ists— hankay,  half.  We  can  say  hankay-hankay — the 
half  of  a  half.  But  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  much 
used:  Beyond  this  there  was  nothing.  A  piece  is  a  word 
of  uncertain  quantity,  and  is  not  quite  suited  to  introduce 
among  the  certainties  of  mathematics.  Thus  the  pov- 
erty of  the  language  has  been  a  great  obstacle  in  teach- 
ing arithmetic.  And  that  poorness  of  language  shows 
their  poverty  of  thought  in  the  same  line.  The  Dakotas 
are  not,  as  a  general  thing,  at  all  smart  in  arithmetic. 

Before  the  snows  had  disappeared  or  the  ducks  come 
back  to  this  northern  land,  in  the  spring  of  1840,  a  baby 
girl  had  been  added  to  the  little  family  in  the  upper 
chamber.  By  the  first  of  June,  Mary  was  feeling  well, 
and  exceedingly  anxious  to  make  a  trip  across  the  prairie. 
She  had  been  cooped  up  here  now  nearly  three  years. 
There  was  no  where  to  go.  Lac-qui-parle  is  the  "  Lake 
that  speaks,"  but  who  could  be  found  around  it?  And 
no  one  had  any  knowledge  of  any  great  Indian  talk  held 
there  that  might  have  justified  the  name.  But  the  ro- 
mance was  all  taken  out  of  the  French  name  by  the 
criticism  of  Eagle  Help,  that  the  Dakota  name  "  Mda- 
eyaydan,"  did  not  mean  "Lake  that  talks,"  but 
"Lake  that  connects."  And  so  Lac-qui-parle  had  no 
historic  interest.  It  was  not  a  good  place  to  go  on  a  pic- 
nic. She  had  been  to  the  Indian  village  frequently,  but 
that  was  not  a  place  to  visit  for  pleasure.  And  on  the 
broad  prairie  there  was  no  objective  point.  Where  could 
she  go  for  a  pleasure  trip,  but  to  Fort  Snelling? 

And  so  we  made  arrangements  for  the  journey.  The 
little  boy  "  Good  Bird "  was  left  behind,  and  the  baby 
Isabella  must  go  along  of  course.  We  were  with  Mr. 
Renville's  annual  caravan  going  to  the  fur-trader's  Mecca. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  59 

The  prairie  journey  was  pleasant  and  enjoyable,  though 
somewhat  fatiguing.  We  had  our  own  team  and  could 
easily  keep  in  company  with  the  long  line  of  wooden 
carts,  carrying  buffalo  robes  and  other  furs.  It  was  in- 
deed rather  romantic.  But  when  we  reached  the  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  we  were  at  our  wit's  end  how  to  proceed  fur- 
ther. That  was  the  terminus  of  the  wagon  road.  It  was 
then  regarded  as  absolutely  impossible  to  take  any 
wheeled  vehicle  through  by  land  to  Fort  Snelling.  Sev- 
eral years  after  this  we  began  to  do  it,  but  it  was  very 
difficult.  Then  it  was  not  to  be  tried.  Mr.  Sibley's  fur 
boat,  it  was  expected,  would  have  been  at  the  Traverse, 
but  it  was  not.  And  a  large  canoe  which  was  kept  there 
had  gotten  loose  and  floated  away.  Only  a  little  crazy 
canoe,  carrying  two  persons,  was  found  to  cross  the  stream 
with.  Nothing  remained  but  to  abandon  the  journey  or 
to  try  it  on  horseback.  And  for  that  not  a  saddle  of  any 
kind  could  be  obtained.  But  Mary  was  a  plucky  little 
woman.  She  did  not  mean  to  use  the  word  "  fail"  if  she 
could  help  it.  And  so  we  tied  our  buffalo  robe  and 
blanket  on  one  of  the  horses,  and  she  mounted  upon  it, 
with  a  rope  for  a  stirrup.  Many  a  jroung  woman  would 
have  been  at  home  there,  but  Mary  had  not  grown  up  on 
horseback.  And  so  at  the  end  of  a  dozen  miles,  when 
we  came  to  the  river  where  Le  Sueur  now  is,  she  was 
very  glad  to  learn  that  the  large  canoe  had  been  found. 
In  that  she  and  baby  Isabella  took  passage  with  Mr. 
Renville's  girls  and  an  Indian  woman  or  two  to  steer  and 
paddle.  The  rest  of  the  company  went  on  by  land,  man- 
aging to  meet  the  boat  at  night  and  camp  together.  This 
we  did  for  the  next  four  nights.  It  was  a  hard  journey 
for  Mary.  The  current  was  not  swift.  The  canoe  was 
heavy  and  required  hard  paddling  to  make  it  move  on- 


60  MAKY   AND   I. 

ward.  The  Dakota  young  women  did  not  care  to  work, 
and  their  helm's-woman  was  not  in  a  condition  to  do  it. 
On  the  fourth  day  out  they  ran  ashore  somewhat  hurriedly 
and  put  up  their  tent,  where  the  woman  pilot  gave  birth 
to  a  baby  girl.  They  named  it  "  By-the-way."  One  day 
they  came  in  very  hungry  to  an  Indian  village.  The 
Dakota  young  women  were  called  to  a  tent  to  eat  sugar. 
Then  Mary  thought  they  might  have  called  "  the  white 
woman "  also,  but  they  did  not.  She  did  not  consider 
that  they  were  relatives. 

By  and  by  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota  was  reached, 
through  hardship  and  endurance.  But  then  it  was  to  be 
"a  pleasure  trip,"  and  this  was  the  way  in  which  the 
pleasure  came. 

Since  we  had  last  seen  him,  S.  W.  Pond  had  married 
Miss  Cordelia  Eggleston,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  J.  D.  Stevens. 
The  station  at  Lake  Harriet  had  been  abandoned,  the  In- 
dians having  left  Lake  Calhoun  first.  Mr.  Stevens  had 
gone  down  to  Wabashaw's  village,  and  the  Pond  brothers 
with  their  families  were  occupying  what  was  called  the 
"  Stone  House,"  within  a  mile  of  the  Fort.  Mary  found 
an  old  school  friend  in  the  garrison,  and  so  the  two  weeks 
spent  in  this  neighborhood  were  pleasant  and  profitable. 

We  now  addressed  ourselves  to  the  return  journey. 
The  fur  boat  hai  gone  up  and  come  down  again.  We 
were  advised  to  try  a  birch-bark  canoe,  and  hire  a  couple 
of  French  voyagers  to  row  it.  In  the  first  part  of  the 
river  we  went  along  nicely.  But  after  awhile  we  began 
to  meet  with  accidents.  The  strong  arms  of  the  paddlers 
would  ever  and  anon  push  the  canoe  square  on  a  snag. 
The  next  thing  to  be  done  was  to  haul  ashore  and  mend 
the  boat.  By  and  by  our  mending  material  was  all  used 
up.  It  was  Saturday  morning,  *  and  we  could  reach 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  61 

Traverse  that  day  if  we  met  with  no  mishap.  But  we 
did  meet  with  a  mishap.  Suddenly  we  struck  a  snag 
which  tore  such  a  hole  in  our  bark  craft,  that  it  was  with 
difficulty  we  got  ashore.  By  land,  it  was  eight  or  ten 
miles  to  the  Traverse.  The  Frenchmen  were  sent  on  for 
a  cart  to  bring  up  the  baggage.  But  rather  than  wait  for 
them,  Mary  and  I  elected  to  walk  and  carry  baby  Bella.  To 
an  Indian  woman  that  would  have  been  a  mere  trifle — not 
worth  speaking  of.  But  to  me  it  meant  work.  I  had  no 
strap  to  tie  her  on  my  back,  and  the  little  darling,  seemed 
to  get  heavier  every  mile  we  went.  But  then,  Mary  had 
undertaken  the  trip  for  pleasure  and  so  we  must  not  fail 
to  find  in  it  all  the  pleasure  we  could.  And  we  did  it. 
Altogether,  that  trip  to  Fort  Snelling  was  a  thing  to  be 
remembered  and  not  regretted. 

MARY'S  STORY. 

"  FORT  SNELLING,  June  19,  1840. 

"  We  left  Lac-qui-parle  June  1,  and  reached  Le  Bland's 
the  Saturday  following,  having  enjoyed  as  pleasant  a 
journey  across  the  prairie  as  we  could  expect  or  hope. 
We  had  expected  to  find  at  that  place  a  barge,  but  we 
could  not  even  procure  an  Indian  canoe.  With  no  other 
alternative  we  mounted  our  horses  on  Monday,  with  no 
other  saddles  than  our  baggage.  Mine  was  a  buffalo  robe 
and  blanket  fastened  with  a  trunk  strap.  My  spirits  sank 
within  me  as  I  gave  our  little  Isabella  to  an  Indian  woman, 
to  carry  perched  up  in  a  blanket  behind,  and  clung  to  my 
horse's  mane  as  we  ascended  and  descended  the  steep 
hills,  and  thought  a  journey  of  seventy  miles  by  land  was 
before  us. 

I  rode  thus  nearly  ten  miles,  and  then  walked  a  short 
distance  to  rest  myself,  to  the  place  where  our  company 
took  lunch.  There,  to  our  great  joy,  a  Frenchman  ex- 


62  MART    AND    I. 

claimed,  "Le grand  canoe,  le  grand  canoe!"  and  we  found 
that  the  Indian,  who  had  been  commissioned  to  search, 
had  found  and  brought  it  down  the  river  thus  far.  I 
gladly  exchanged  my  seat  on  the  horse  for  one  in  the 
canoe,  with  two  Indian  women  and  Mr.  Renville's  daugh- 
ters. Our  progress  was  quite  comfortable,  though  slow, 
as  some  of  our  party  were  invited  to  Indian  lodges  to 
feast  occasionally,  while  the  rest  of  us  were  sunning 
by  the  river's  bank. 

On  the  fourth  day  we  had  an  addition  to  our  party. 
The  woman  at  the  helm  said  she  was  sick — and  we  went 
on  shore  perhaps  three-quarters  of  an  hour  on  account  of 
the  rain,  and  when  it  ceased,  she  was  ready  with  her 
infant  to  step  into  the  canoe  and  continue  rowing,  al- 
though she  did  not  resume  her  seat  in  the  stern  until  the 
next  morning.  This  is  a  specimen  of  Indian  life. 

We  have  found  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Turner  in  the  garrison 
here;  she  was  formerly  Mary  Stuart,  of  Mackinaw. 

"  TRAVERSE  DES  Sioux,  July  4. 

"  The  canoe  (birch  bark)  which  we  praised  so  highly, 
failed  us  about  eight  miles  below  this  place,  in  consequence 
of  not  having  a  supply  of  gum  to  mend  a  large  rent 
made  by  a  snag  early  this  morning.  Not  thinking  it  was 
quite  so  far,  I  chose  to  try  walking,  husband  carrying 
Isabella,  the  Frenchmen  having  hastened  on  to  find  our 
horses  to  bring  up  the  baggage.  We  reached  the  river 
and  found  there  was  no  boat  here  with  which  to  cross. 
Mr.  Riggs  waded  with  Isabella,  the  water  being  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  deep,  and  an  Indian  woman  came  to 
carry  me  over,  when  our  horses  were  brought  up.  Hus- 
band mounted  without  any  saddle,  and  I,  quivering  like 
an  aspen,  seated  myself  behind,  clinging  so  tightly  that 
I  feared  I  should  pull  us  both  off.  I  do  not  think  it  was 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  63 

fear,  at  least  not  entirely,  for  I  am  still  exceedingly 
fatigued  and  dizzy,  but  I  have  reason  to  be  gratified  that 
I  did  not  fall  into  the  river  from  faintness,  as  husband 
thought  I  was  in  danger  of  doing.  Isabella's  face  is 
nearly  blistered,  and  mine  almost  as  brown  as  an  In- 
dian's." 

"  LAOQUI-PAKLE  MISSION,  July  27,  1840. 

"We  are  once  more  in  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  home, 
and  are  somewhat  rested  from  the  fatigue  of  our  journey. 
The  repetition, of  that  parental  injunction,  "Mary,  do  be 
careful  of  your  health,"  recalled  your  watchful  care  most 
forcibly.  How  often  have  I  heard  these  words,  and  per- 
haps too  often  have  regarded  them  less  strictly  than  an 
anxious  mother  deemed  necessary  for  my  highest  welfare. 
And  even  now,  were  it  not  that  the  experience  of  a  few 
years  may  correct  my  notions  about  health,  I  should  be 
so  unfashionable  as  to  affirm,  that  necessary  exposures, 
such  as  sleeping  on  the  prairie  in  a  tent  drenched  with 
rain,  and  walking  some  two  or  three  miles  in  the  dewy 
grass,  where  the  water  would  gush  forth  from  our  shoes  at 
every  step,  and  then  continuing  our  walk  until  they  were 
more  than  comfortably  dry,  as  we  did  on  the  morning  our 
canoe  failed  us,  are  not  as  injurious  to  the  health  as  the 
unnecessary  exposures  of  fashionable  life." 

The  Sioux  on  the  Mississippi  and  Minnesota  Rivers 
were  known  to  be  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  Dakota 
people.  We  at  Lac-qui-parle  had  frequent  intercourse 
with  the  Sissetons  of  Lake  Traverse.  Sometimes,  too,  we 
had  visits  from  the  Yanktonais,  who  followed  the  buffalo 
on  the  great  prairies  this  side  of  the  Missouri  River.  But 
more  than  half  of  the  Sioux  nation  were  said  to  be  Tee- 
tons,  who  lived  beyond  the  Big  Muddy.  So  it  seemed 


64:  MARY    AND    I. 

very  desirable  that  we  extend  our  acquaintance  among 
them.  • 

About  the  first  of  September,  Mr.  Huggins  and  I,  hav- 
ing prepared  ourselves  with  a  small  outfit,  started  for  the 
Missouri.  We  had  one  pony  for  the  saddle,  and  one 
horse  and  cart  to  carry  the  baggage.  At  first  we  joined 
a  party  of  wild  Sioux  from  the  Two  Woods,  whose  leader 
was  "  Thunder  Face."  He  was  a  great  scamp,  but  had 
promised  to  furnish  us  with  guides  to  the  Missouri,  after 
we  had  reached  the  Coteau.  The  party  were  going  out 
to  hunt  buffalo,  and  moved  by  .short  days'  marches.  In 
a  week  we  had  only  made  fifty  miles.  After  some  vex- 
atious .delays  and  some  coaxing  and  buying,  we  succeeded 
in  getting  started  ahead  with  two  young  men,  the  princi- 
pal one  being  "  Sacred  Cow."  The  first  day  brought  us 
into  the  region  of  buffalo,  one  of  which  Sacred  Cow 
killed.  This  came  near  spoiling  our  journey.  The  young- 
men  now  wanted  to  turn  about  and  join  the  hunt.  An 
additional  bargain  had  to  be  made.  In  about  two  weeks 
from  Lac-qui-parle  we  reached  the  Missouri,  striking  it 
near  Fort  Pierre.  To  this  trading  fort  we  crossed,  and 
there  spent  a  good  part  of  a  week.  Forty  or  fifty  teepees 
of  Teetons  were  encamped  there.  They  treated  us  kindly 
(inviting  us  to  a  dog  feast  on  one  occasion),  as  did  also 
the  white  people  and  half-breeds  of  the  Post.  We  gath- 
ered a  good  deal  of  information  in  regard  to  the  western 
bands  of  the  Sioux  nation;  we  communicated  to  them 
something  of  the  object  of  our  missionary  work,  and  of 
the  good  news  of  salvation,  and  then  returned  home 
pretty  nearly  by  the  way  we  went.  We  had  been  gone  a 
month.  The  result  of  our  visit  was  the  conclusion  that  we 
could  not  do  much,  or  attempt  much,  for  the  civilization 
and  Christianization  of  those  roving  bands  of  Dakotas. 


tfOKTY     VKAliS    WITH    Tilli    blOUX.  f)5 


CHAPTER  V. 

1840-1843. — Dakota  Braves. — Simon  Anawangmane. — Mary's  Let- 
ter.— Simon's  Fall. — Map!e  Sugar. — Adobe  Church. — Catha- 
rine's Letter. — Another  Letter  of  Mary's. — Left  Hand's  Case. 
—The  Fifth  Winter.— Mary  to  her  Brother.— The  Children's 
Morning  Hide. — Visit  to  Hawley,  and  Ohio. — Dakota  Print- 
ing.— New  Recruits. — Return. — Little  Rapids. — Traverse  des 
Sioux. — Stealing  Bread. — Forming  a  New  Station. — Begging. 
— Opposition. — Thomas  L.  Longley. — Meeting  Ojibwas. — 
Two  Sioux  Killed.— Mary's  Hard  Walk. 

Among  the  encouraging  events  of  1840  and  1841,  was 
the  conversion  of  SIMON  ANAWANGMANE.  He  was  the 
first  full-blood  Dakota  man  to  come  out  on  the  side  of 
the  new  religion.  Mr.  Reiiville  and  his  sons  had  joined 
the  church,  but  the  rest  were  women.  It  came  to  be  a 
taunt  that  the  men  used  when  we  talked  with  them,  and 
asked  them  to  receive  the  gospel,  "  Your  church  is  made 
up  of  women;"  and,  "If  you  had  gotten  us  in  first  it 
would  have  amounted  to  something,  but  now  they  are 
only  women.  W^ho  would  follow  after  women  ?"  Thus 
the  proud  Dakota  braves  turned  away. 

But  God's  truth  has  sharp  arrows  in  it,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  knows  how  to  use  them  in  piercing  even  Dakota 
hearts. 

Anawangmane  (Walks  galloping  on)  was  at  this  time 
not  far  from  thirty  years  old.  He  was  not  a  bright  scholar 
— rather  dull  and  slow  in  learning  to  read.  But  he  had 


66  MARY    AND    I. 

a  very  strong  will-power  and  did  not  know  what  fear  was. 
He  had  been  a  very  dare-devil  on  the  war  path.  The 
Dakotas  had  a  curious  custom  of  being  under  law  and 
above  law.  It  was  always  competent  for  a  Dakota  soldier 
to  punish  another  man  for  a  misdemeanor,  if  the  other 
man  did  not  rank  above  him  in  savage  prowess.  As  for 
example:  If  a  Dakota  man  had  braved  an  Ojibwa  with 
a  loaded  gun  pointed  at  him,  and  had  gone  up  and  killed 
him,  he  ranked  above  all  men  who  had  not  done  a  like 
brave  deed.  And  if  no  one  in  the  community  had  done 
such  an  act  of  bravery,  then  this  man  could  not  be  pun- 
ished for  anything,  according  to  Dakota  custom. 

Under  date  of- Feb.  24,  1841,  Mary  writes:— "Last  Sab- 
bath was  Isabella's  birth-day.  She  has  been  a  healthy 
child,  for  which  we  have  cause  of  gratitude.  But  this 
was  not  our  only,  or  principal,  cause  of  joy  on  last  Sab- 
bath. Five  adults  received  the  baptismal  rite  preparatory 
to  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  next  Sabbath. 
One  of  them  was  a  man,  the  first  in  the  nation — a  full- 
blooded  Sioux,  that  has  desired  to  renounce  all  for  Christ. 
May  God  enable  him  to  adorn  his  profession.  His  future 
life  will  doubtless  exert  a  powerful  influence  either  for  or 
against  Christ's  cause  here.  Three  years  since  he  was 
examined  by  the  church  session,  but  then  he  acknowl- 
edged that  the  6th  and  7th  commandments  were  too 
broad  in  their  restrictions  for  him.  Now  he  professes  a 
desire  and  determination  to  keep  them  also.  His  wife, 
whom  he  is  willing  to  marry,  with  her  child,  and  three 
children  by  two  other  wives  he  has  had,  stood  with  him, 
and  at  the  same  time  received  the  seal  of  the  new  cove- 
nant. As  they  all  wished  English  names,  we  gave 
'Hetta'  to  a  white,  grey-eyed  orphan  girl  who  was 
baptized  on  account  of  her  grandmother." 


FORTY    YEAES    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  67 

This  young  man,  Anawangmane,  had  reached  that  envia- 
ble position  of  being  above  Dakota  law.  He  had  not 
only  attained  to  the  "  first  three,"  but  he  was  the  chief. 
And  so  when  he  came  out  on  the  side  of  the  Lord  and 
Christianity,  there  was  a  propriety  in  calling  him  Simon, 
when  he  was  baptized.  He  was  ordinarily  a  quiet  man 
— a  man  of  deeds  and  not  of  words.  But  once  in  a  while 
he  would  get  roused  up,  and  his  eyes  would  flash,  and  his 
words  and  gestures  were  powerful.  Simon  immediately 
put  on  white-man's  clothes,  and  made  and  planted  a  field 
of  corn  and  potatoes  adjoining  the  mission  field.  No 
Dakota  brave  dared  to  cut  up  his  tent  or  kill  his  dog  or 
break  his  gun;  but  this  did  not  prevent  the  boys,  and 
women  too,  from  pointing  the  finger  at  him,  and  saying, 
tc  There  goes  the  man  who  has  made  himself  a  woman*" 
Simon  seemed  to  care  for  it  no  more  than  the  bull  dog 
does  for  the  barking  of  a  puppy.  He  apparently  brushed 
it  all  aside  as  if  it  was  only  a  straw.  So  far  as  any  sign 
from  him,  one  looking  on  would  be  tempted  to  think  that 
he  regarded  it  as  glory.  But  it  did  not  beget  pride.  He 
did  indeed  become  stronger  thereby. 

And  yet,  as  time  rolled  by,  it  was  seen  by  the  unfold- 
ing of  the  divine  plan,  that  Simon  could  not  be  built  up 
into  the  best  and  noblest  character  without  suffering. 
Naturally,  he  was  the  man  who  would  grow  into  self- 
sufficiency.  There  were  weak  points  in  his  character 
which  he  perhaps  knew  not  of.  It  was  several  years  after 
this  when  Simon  visited  us  at  the  Traverse,  and  made  our 
hearts  glad  by  his  presence  and  help.  But  alas!  he  came 
there  to  stumble  and  fall !  "  You  are  a  brave  man — no 
man  so  brave  as  you  are,"  said  the  Indians  at  the  Trav- 
erse to  him.  And  some  of  them  were  distantly  related 
to  him.  While  they  praised  and  flattered  him,  they  asked 


68  MAKY   AND    I. 

him  to  drink  whiskey  with  them.  Surely  he  was  man 
enough  for  that.  How  many  times  he  refused  Simon 
never  told.  But  at  last  he  yielded,  and  then  the  very 
energy  of  his  character  carried  him  to  great  excess  in 
drinking  "  spirit  water." 

"LAC-QUI-PAELE,  March  27,  1841. 

"  Until  this,  the  seasons  for  sugar-making  have  been 
very  unfavorable  since  we  have  resided  here.  But  this 
spring  the  Indian  women  have  been  unusually  successful, 
and  several  of  them  have  brought  us  a  little  maple  sugar, 
which,  after  melting  and  straining,  was  excellent,  and 
forcibly  reminded  us  of  home  sugar.  However,  it  does 
not  always  need  purifying,  as  some  are  much  more  cleanly 
than  others,  here  as  well  as  in  civilized  lands.  Sugar  is 
a  luxury  for  which  these  poor  women  are  willing  to  toil 
hard,  and  often  with  but  small  recompense.  Their  camps 
are  frequently  two  or  three  miles  from  their  lodges.  If 
they  move  to  the  latter,  they  must  also  pack  corn  for  their 
families;  and  if  not,  with  kettle  in  hand  they  go  to  their 
camps,  toil  all  day,  and  often  at  night  return  with  their 
syrup  or  sugar  and  a  back  load  of  wood  for  their  hus- 
band's use  the  next  day.  Thus  sugar  is  to  them  a  hard- 
earned  luxury.  But  they  have  also  others,  which  they 
sometimes  offer  us,  such  as  muskrats,  beaver's  tails  and 
tortoises.  I  have  never  tried  muskrats,  but  husband  says 
they  are  as  good  as  polecats — another  delicacy!" 

But  I  must  leave  these  broken  threads,  and  take  up 
the  thread  of  my  story.  At  Lac-qui-parle  the  school- 
room in  Dr.  Williamson's  log  house  became  too  straight  for 
our  religious  gatherings.  We  determined  to  build  a 
church.  The  Dakota  women  volunteered  to  come  and 
dig  out,  in  the  side  of  the  hill,  the  place  where  it  should 
stand.  Building  materials  were  not  abundant  nor  easily 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH   THE    SIOUX.  69 

obtained,  and  so  we  decided  to  build  an  adobe.  We 
made  our  bricks  and  dried  them  in  the  sun,  and  laid  them 
up  into  the  walls.  We  sawed  our  boards  with  the  whip- 
saw,  and  made  our  shingles  out  of  the  ash-trees.  We 
built  our  house  without  much  outlay  of  money.  The 
heavy  Minnesota  rains  washed  its  sides,  and  we  plastered 
one  and  clapboarded  another.  It  was  a  comfortable 
house,  and  one  in  which  much  preaching  and  teaching 
were  done;  moreover,  when,  in  after  years,  our  better 
framed  house  was  burned  to  the  ground,  this  adobe  church 
still  stood  for  us  to  take  refuge  in.  There  we  were  living 
when  Secretary  S.  B.  Treat  visited  us  in  1854,  and  in  one 
corner  of  that,  we  fenced  off  with  bed-quilts  a  little  place 
for  him  to  sleep.  In  this  adobe  house  we  first  made  trial 
of  an  instrument  in  song  worship.  Miss  Lucy  Spooner, 
afterward  Mrs.  Drake,  took  in  her  melodeon.  But  the 
Dakota  voices  fell  so  much  below  the  instrument  that  she 
gave  it  up  in  despair.  By  all  these  things  we  remember 
the  old  adobe  church  at  Lac-qui-parle .  And  not  less  by 
the  first  consecration  of  it.  That  was  a  feast  made  by  Dr. 
Williamson  for  the  men.  The  floor  was  not  yet  laid,  but 
a  hundred  Dakota  men  gathered  into  it  and  sat  on  the 
sleepers,  and  ate  their  potatoes  and  bread  and  soup  gladly, 
and  then  we  talked  to  them  .about  Christ. 

Of  this  church  when  commenced,  Catherine  Totiduta- 
win  wrote:  "Now  are  we  to  have  a  church,  and  on  that 
account  we  rejoice  greatly.  In  this  house  we  shall  pray 
to  the  Great  Spirit.  We  have  dug  ground  two  days 
already.  We  have  worked  having  the  Great  Spirit  in  our 
thoughts.  We  have  worked  praying.  When  we  have 
this  house  we  shall  be  glad.  In  it,  if  we  pray  he  will 
have  mercy  upon  us,  and  if  he  hears  what  we  say,  he 
will  make  us  glad.  As  yet  we  do  what  he  hates.  In  this 


TO  MARY   AND    I. 

house  we  will  confess  these  things  to  him — our  thoughts, 
our  words,  our  actions — these  we  will  tell  to  him.  His 
Son  will  dwell  in  this  house  and  pardon  all  that  is  bad. 
God  has  mercy  on  us  and  is  giving  us  a  holy  house.  In 
this  we  will  pray  for  the  nations." 

"Dec.  10,  1841. 

"  The  last  two  Sabbaths  we  have  assembled  in  our  new 
chapel.  Only  one  half  is  completed,  though  husband  and 
Mr.  Pettijohn  have  been  very  diligent  and  successful. 
You  can  scarcely  imagine  what  a  task  building  is  in  a  land 
where  there  is  such  a  scarcity  of  materials  and  men. 
During  the  summer  great  exertions  were  made  to  prepare 
lumber,  and  two  men  were  employed  about  two  months 
in  sawing  it  with  a  whip-saw.  The  woods  were  searched 
and  researched  for  two  or  three  miles  for  suitable  timber, 
and  the  result  was  about  3,200  feet — which  is  not  enough 
— at  an  expense  of  $150.  I  might  mention  other  hin- 
drances, but  notwithstanding  them  all,  the  Lord  has  evi- 
dently prospered  the  work,  and  our  expectations  have 
been  fully  realized,  if  our  wishes  have  not." 

Besides  Simon  Anawangmane,  two  or  three  other  young 
men  were  won  over  to  the  religion  of  Christ  before  1842. 
One  of  these  was  Paul  Mazakootaymane.  Paul  was  a 
man  of  different  stamp  from  Simon.  He  was  a  native 
orator.  But  he  was  innately  lazy.  Still  he  has  always 
been  loyal  to  the  white  people,  and  has  done  much  good 
work  on  their  behalf. 

There  was,  at  this  time,  an  elderly  man  who  sought  ad- 
mission to  the  church  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Left  Sand  by 
name.  This  man  was  Mr.  Renville's  brother-in-law.  We 
could  not  say  he  was  not  a  true  believer — he  seemed  to 
be  one.  But  he  had  two  wives,  and  they  both  had  been 
received  into  church  fellowship.  They  had  been  admitted 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH   THE    SIOUX.  71 

on  the  ground,  partly,  that  it  could  not  be  decided  which, 
if  either,  was  the  lawful  wife,  and  partly  on  the  ground 
that  Dakota  women  heretofore  could  not  be  held  respon- 
sible for  polygamy.  And  now  Left  Hand  claimed  for 
himself  that  he  had  lived  with  these  women  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  and  had  a  family  by  each ;  that  he  had  en- 
tered into  this  relation  in  the  days  of  ignorance,  and  that 
the  Bible  recognized  the  rightfulness  of  such  relations 
under  certain  circumstances,  since  David  and  Jacob  had 
more  than  one  wife.  Mr.  Renville,  who  was  a  ruling  elder 
in  the  church,  took  this  position,  and  the  members  of  the 
mission  were  not  a  unit  against  it.  So  the  question  was 
referred  to  the  Ripley  Presbytery.  The  result  was  that 
our  native  church  was  saved  from  sanctioning  polygamy. 
"We  had  the  two  wives  of  Left  Hand,  and  two  women 
also  in  another  case.  But  the  husbands'  dying  has  long 
since  left  them  widows,  and  some  of  them  also  have  gone 
to  the  eternal  world.  The  loose  condition  of  the  mar- 
riage relation  is  still  that,  in  the  social  state  of  the  Dako- 
tas,  which  gives  us  the  most  trouble. 

The  fifth  winter  in  our  "  little  chamber"  was  one  full 
of  work.  In  the  early  part  of  it,  Mary  was  still  in  the 
school.  In  the  latter  part,  our  third  child  was  born.  She 
was  named  "  Martha  Taylor,"  for  the  grandmother  in 
Massachusetts.  During  the  years  previous,  I  had  under- 
taken to  translate  a  good  portion  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  Acts,  and  Paul's  Epistles  and  the  Revelation.  This 
winter  the  corrected  copy  had  to  be  made.  Of  necessity, 
I  learned  to  do  my  best  work  surrounded  by  children. 
My  study  and  work-shop  was  our  sitting-room,  and  dining- 
room,  and  kitchen,  and  nursery,  and  ladies'  parlor.  It  was 
often  half  filled  with  Indians.  Besides  my  own  transla- 
tions, I  copied  for  the  press  the  Gospel  of  John  and  some 


72  MARY   AND   I. 

of  the  Psalms.  A  part  of  the  latter  were  my  own  trans- 
lation, and  a  part  were  secured  as  the  Gospel  was,  through 
Mr.  Renville.  There  was  also  a  hymn-book  to  edit,  and 
some  school-books  to  be  prepared.  So  the  winter  was 
filled  with  work  and  service.  The  remembrance  of  it  is 
only  pleasant.  Doubtless  the  ordinary  family  trials  were 
experienced.  The  bucket  of  water  was  spilled  and  leak- 
ing down  on  Mrs.  Williamson's  bed — or  one  of  the  chil- 
dren fell  down  the  stairs,  or  our  little  Bella  crawled  out 
of  the  window  and  sat  on  the  little  shelf  where  the  milk 
was  set  to  cool  in  the  morning,  giving  us  a  good  scare. 

MARY  TO  HER  BROTHER  ALFRED! 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  April  28,  1841. 

"  Your  letter  presented  to  my  '  mind's  eye  '•  our  moun- 
tain home.  I  entered  the  lower  gate,  passed  up  the  lane 
between  the  elms,  maples  and  cherries,  and  saw  once 
more  our  mountain  home  embowered  by  the  fir-trees  and 
shrubbery  I  loved  so  well.  How  many  times  have  I 
watched  the  first  buddings  of  those  rose  bushes  and  lilacs, 
and  with  what  care  and  delight  have  I  nursed  those  snow- 
balls, half  dreaming  they  were  sister  spirits,  telling  by 
their  delicate  purity  of  that  Eden  where  flowers  never 
fade,  and  leaves  never  wither.  Perhaps  I  was  too  passion- 
ately fond  of  flowers;  if  so,  that  fondness  is  sufficiently 
blunted,  if  not  subdued.  Not  a  solitary  shrub,  tree  or 
flower  rears  its  head  near  our  dwelling,  excepting  those  of 
nature's  planting  at  no  great  distance  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  St.  Peter's,  and  a  copse  of  plums  in  a  dell  on  the 
left,  and  of  scrub-oak  on  the  right.  Back  of  us  is  the 
river  hill  which  shelters  us  from  the  furious  wind  of  the 
high  prairie  beyond.  Until  last  season  we  have  had  no 
enclosure,  and  now  we  have  but  a  poor  defense  against 
the  depredations  of  beasts,  and  still  more  lawless  and  sav- 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  73 

age  men.  On  reading  descriptions  of  the  situation  of  our 
missionary  brethren  and  sisters  in  Beirut,  Jerusalem  and 
elsewhere,  the  thought  has  arisen,  '  That  is  such  a  place 
as  I  should  like  to  call  home.'  But  the  remembrance  of 
earthquakes,  war  and  the  plague,  by  which  those  countries 
are  so  often  scourged,  hushed  each  murmuring  thought. 
When  I  also  recollected  the  mysterious  providences  which 
have  written  the  Persian  missionaries  childless,  how  could 
I  long  or  wisli  to  possess  more  earthly  comforts,  while  my 
husband  and  our  two  'olive  plants'  are  spared  to  sit 
around  our  table.  Little  Bella  already  creeps  to  her 
father,  and  if  granted  a  seat  on  his  knee,  folds  her  little 
hands,  although,  as  Alfred  says,  c  she  does  not  wait  till 
papa  says  amen. '  While  we  are  surrounded  by  so  many 
blessings,  I  would  not,  like  God's  ancient  people,  provoke 
him  by  murmuring,  as  I  fear  I  have  done,  and  if  he  should 
deprive  us  of  any  of  the  comforts  we  now  possess,  may 
he  give  us  grace  to  feel  as  did  Habakkuk,  '  Although  the 
fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the 
vine,  etc.,  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord  and  joy  in  the 
God  of  my  Salvation.' 

"  I  suppose  you  have  hardly  yet  found  how  much  of  ro- 
mance is  mingled  with  your  ideas  of  a  married  state. 
You  will  find  real  life  much  the  same  that  you  have  ever 
found,  and  with  additional  joys,  additional  cares  and  sor- 
rows. I  have  realized  as  much  happiness  as  I  anticipated, 
though  many  of  my  bright  visions  have  not  been  realized, 
and  others  have  been  much  changed  in  outline  and  finish- 
ing. For  instance,  our  still  winter  evenings  are  seldom 
enlivened  by  reading,  while  I  am  engaged  lulling  our 
little  ones  or  plying  my  needle.  Although  I  should 
greatly  enjoy  such  a  treat  occasionally,  I  cannot  in  our 
situation  expect  it,  while  it  is  often  almost  the  only  time 


74  MARY   AND    I. 

husband  can  secure  for  close  and  uninterrupted  st  udy 
You  know  the  time  of  a  missionary  is  not  his  own.'1'1 

"Thursday,  May  19,  1841. 

"  Perhaps  the  scene  that  would  amuse  you  most  would 
be  '  the  babies'  morning  ride.'  The  little  wagon  in  which 
Isabella  and  my  namesake,  Mary  Ann  Huggins,  are  drawn 
by  the  older  children,  even  Alfred  ambitious  to  assist, 
would  be  in  complete  contrast  with  '  the  royal  princess' 
cradle;'  yet  I  doubt  not  it  affords  them  as  much  pleasure 
as  a  more  elegant  one  would.  Alfred's  was  made  by  his 
father,  and  Hetta,  an  Indian  girl  living  at  Mr.  Huggins, 
constructed  a  canopy,  which  gives  it  a  tasteful,  though 
somewhat  rude  appearance.  Mrs.  Williamson's  son  John 
draws  his  sister  in  a  wagon  of  his  own,  so  that  the  whole 
troop  of  ten  little  ones  with  their  carriages  form  a  minia- 
ture pleasure  party." 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  Feb.  26,  1842. 

"  We  are  grateful  for  the  expression  of  kindness  for  us 
and  for  our  children,  and  we  hope  that  our  duty  to  those 
whom  God  has  committed  to  our  care  will  be  made  plain. 
Before  your  letter  reached  us,  containing  the  remark  of 
'  Mother^Clark '  about  taking  the  little  girl,  we  had  another 
little  daughter  added  to  our  family,  and  had  concluded  to 
leave  Isabella  with  Miss  Fanny  Huggins,  as  it  is  probable 
we  shall  return  to  this  region,  instead  of  ascending  the 
Missouri.  Our  little  Martha  we  shall  of  course  not  leave 
behind  if  our  lives  are  spared  and  we  are  permitted  to  go 
East;  and  Alfred  we  intend  taking  with  us  as  far  as  Ohio." 

Of  the  next  year,  from  the  spring  of  1842,  little  need 
be  said  in  this  connection.  The  preparations  were  all 
made.  Mary  and  I  took  with  us  the  little  boy,  now  in  his 
fifth  year,  and  the  baby,  while  the  little  girl  between  was 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH   THE   SIOUX.  75 

left  in  the  care  of  Miss  Fanny  Huggins.  It  was  a  year  of 
enjoyment.  Mary  visited  the  old  home  on  Hawley  hills. 
The  old  grandfather  was  still  there:,  and  the  younger  mem- 
bers of  the  family  had  grown  up.  Here  during  the 
summer,  the  little  boy  born  in  Dakota  land  gathered  straw- 
berries, in  the  meadows  of  Massachusetts.  Our  school- 
books  and  hymn-book  were  printed  in  Boston;  and  in  the 
autumn  we  came  to  Ohio.  During  the  winter  months  the 
Bible  printing  was  done  in  Cincinnati. 

When  we  were  ready  to  start  back,  in  the  spring  of 
1843,  we  had  secured  as  fellow-laborers,  at  the  new  sta- 
tion which  we  were  instructed  to  form,  Robert  Hopkins 
and  his  young  wife  Agnes,  and  Miss  Julia  Kephart,  all 
from  Bipley,  Ohio.  The  intercourse  with  so  many  sym- 
pathising Christian  hearts,  which  had  been  much  interested 
in  the  Dakota  mission  from  its  commencement,  was  refresh- 
ing. We  found,  too,  that  we  had  both  been  forgetting  our 
mother  tongue  somewhat,  in  the  efforts  made  to  learn 
Dakota.  This  must  be  guarded  against  in  the  future.  In 
our  desire  to  be  Dakotas  we  must  not  cease  to  be  English 

The  bottoms  of  the  Lower  Minnesota  were  putting  on 
their  richest  robes  of  green,  and  the  great,  wild  rose 
gardens  were  coming  into  full  perfection  of  beauty,  when 
in  the  month  of  June,  our  barge,  laden  with  mission  sup- 
plies, was  making  its  way  up  to  Traverse  des  Sioux.  At 
what  was  known  as  "  The  Little  Rapids,"  was  a  village 
of  Wahpaton  Dakotas,  the  old  home  of  the  people  at 
Lac-qui-parle.  There  were  certain  reasons  why  we  thought 
that  might  be  the  point  for  the  new  station.  We  made 
a  halt  there  of  half  a  day,  and  called  the  chief  men.  But 
they  were  found  to  be  too  much  under  the  influence  of 
the  Treaty  Indians  below,  to  give  us  any  encouragement 
In  fact,  they  did  not  want  missionaries. 


76  MARY   AND    I. 

We  passed  by,  and  landed  our  boats  at  the  Traverse. 
The  day  before  reaching  this  point,  Mrs.  Hopkins  and 
Mary  had  made  arrangements  to  have  some  light  bread — 
they  were  tired  eating  the  heavy  cakes  of  the  voyage. 
They  succeeded  to  their  satisfaction,  and  placed  the  warm 
bread  away,  in  a  safe  place,  as  they  supposed,  within  the 
tent,  ready  for  the  morning.  But  when  the  breakfast 
was  ready,  the  bread  was  not  there.  During  the  night, 
an  Indian  hand  had  taken  it. 

The  Dakotas  were  accustomed  to  do  such  things. 
While  at  Lac-qui-parle  we  were  constantly  annoyed  by 
thefts.  An  ax  or  a  hoe  could  not  be  left  out  of  doors, 
but  it  would  be  taken.  And  in  our  houses  we  were  con- 
tinually missing  little  things.  A  towel  hanging  on  the 
wall  would  be  tucked  under  the  blanket  of  a  woman,  or 
a  girl  would  sidle  up  to  a  stand  and  take  a  pair  of  scis- 
sors.  Any  thing  that  could  be  easily  concealed  was  sure 
to  be  missing,  if  we  gave  them  an  opportunity.  And 
these  people  at  the  Traverse,  (Sissetons  they  were)  we 
found  quite  equal  to  those  at  Lac-qui-parle.  Stealing, 
even  among  themselves,  was  not  considered  very  dis- 
honorable. The  men  said  they  did  not  steal,  but  the 
women  were  all  wamanonsa. 

We  had  decided  to  make  this  our  new  station.  We 
should  consult  the  Indians,  but  our  staying  would  not  de- 
pend upon  their  giving  us  an  invitation  to  stay.  And  so 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  start  off  the  train  to 
Lac-qui-parle.  In  the  early  part  of  June,  1842,  after  Mary 
and  I  left,  there  had  come  frosts  which  cut  off  the  Indian 
corn.  The  prospect  was  that  the  village  would  be 
abandoned,  pretty  much  during  the  year.  This  led  Dr. 
Williamson  to  come  down  to  Fort  Snelling,  as  Mr.  S.  W. 
Pond  and  wife  had  already  gone  up  to  take  our  place. 


FOETY    YEAES   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  77 

This  spring  of  1843,  Mr.  Pond  had  left,  and  Dr.  William- 
son could  not  return  until  the  autumn,  as  he  had  engaged 
temporarily  to  fill  the  place  of  surgeon  in  the  garrison. 
In  these  circumstances,  it  was  deemed  advisable  for  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hopkins  to  go  on  to  Lac-qui-parle  for  a  year. 
Mary  took  her  baby,  Martha  Taylor,  now  fifteen  months 
old,  and  went  up  with  them  to  bring  down  Isabella. 

Thomas  Longley,  a  young  man  of  22  years,  and  rej  oic- 
ing  in  a  young  man's  strength,  had  joined  us  at  Fort  Snel- 
ling.  He  was  a  part  of  our  boat's  company  up  the  Minne- 
sota; and  now  he  and  I  and  the  little  boy,  Zitkadan  Wash- 
tay,  remained  to  make  a  beginning.  Immediately  I  cal- 
led the  Indians  and  had  a  talk  with  them,  at  Mr.  Le  Eland's 
trading-post.  I  told  them  we  had  come  to  live  with  them, 
and  to  teach  them.  Some  said  yes  and  some  said  no.  But 
they  all  asked,  What  have  you  to  give  us  ? 

It  was  at  a  time  of  year  when  they  were  badly  off  for 
food,  and  so  I  gave  them  two  barrels  of  flour.  Before 
the  council  was  over,  some  of  the  principal  men  became 
so  stupid  from  the  influence  of  whisky  which  they  had  been 
drinking,  that  they  did  not  know  what  they  were  saying. 
Old  Sleepy  Eyes  and  Tankamane  were  the  chief  men 
present.  They  were  favorable  to  our  stopping,  and  re- 
mained friends  of  the  mission  as  long  as  it  was  continued 
there.  But  some  of  the  younger  men  were  opposed. 
One  especially,  who  had  a  keg  of  whisky  that  he  was 
taking  to  the  Upper  Minnesota,  was  reported  as  saying, 
that  when  he  had  disposed  'of  his  whisky,  he  would  come 
back  and  stop  Tamakoche's  building.  But  he  never  came 
back — only  a  few  days  after  this  he  was  killed  in  a 
drunken  frolic. 

We  expected  to  meet  with  opposition,  and  so  were  not 
disappointed.  Thomas  and  I  pitched  our  tents  under 


78  MARY    AND    I. 

some  scrub-oaks,  on  a  little  elevation,  in  the  lower  river 
bottom,  a  half  a  mile  away  from  the  Trader's.  Immedi- 
ately we  commenced  to  cut  and  haul  logs  for  our  cabin. 
In  the  mean  time  the  party  going  to  Lac-qui-parle  were 
nearing  their  destination.  With  them  there  were  three 
young  men  who  had  accompanied  us  to  Ohio,  and  spent 
the  year  .Their  baptized  names  were  Simon,  JETenok  and 
Lorenzo.  Each  was  about  twenty  years  old.  While  on 
their  way  down,  we  had  cut  off  their  hair  and  dressed 
them  up  as  white  men.  They  had  all  learned  much  in 
their  absence  ;  while  two  of  them  had  added  their  names 
to  the  rolls  of  Christian  churches  in  Ohio.  Thus,  they 
were  returning.  The  party  spent  the  Sabbath  a  day's 
travel  from  Lac-qui-parle.  On  Monday,  before  noon,  these 
young  men  had  seen,  on  some  far-off  prairie  elevation, 
what  seemed  to  be  Indians  lying  down.  But  their  sus- 
picions of  a  war  party  were  not  very  pronounced. 

Five  miles  from  the  mission,  the  road  crosses  the 
Mayawakan — otherwise  called  the  Chippewa  River.  It 
was  a  hot  afternoon  when  the  mission  party  approached 
it.  They  were  thirsty,  and  the  young  men  had  started  on 
to  drink.  Simon  was  ahead,  and  on  horseback.  Sud- 
denly, as  he  neared  the  stream,  there  emerged  from  the 
wood  a  war  party  of  Ojibwas,  carrying  two  fresh  scalps. 
Simon  rode  up  and  shook  hands  with  them.  He  could  do 
this  safely,  as  he  was  dressed  like  a  white  man.  They 
showed  him  the  scalps,  all  gory  with  blood  ;  but  he  wot 
not  that  one  of  them  was  his  own  brother's.  This  brother 
and  his  wife  and  a  young  man  were  coming  to  meet  their 
friends.  As  the  two  men  came  to  the  crossing,  they  were 
shot  down  by  the  Ojibwas,  who  lay  concealed  in  the 
bushes.  The  woman,  who  was  a  little  distance  behind, 
heard  the  guns  and  fled,  carrying  the  news  back  to  the 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  79 

village.  And  so  it  happened,  that  by  the  time  the  mis- 
sion teams  had  fairly  crossed  the  river,  they  were  met  by 
almost  the  whole  village  of  maddened  Dakotas.  They 
were  in  pursuit  of  the  Ojibwas.  But  had  not  the  mis- 
sionaries taken  these  boys  to  Ohio  ?  And  had  not  these 
two  young  men  been  killed  as  they  were  coming  to  meet 
the  boys  ?  Were  not  the  missionaries  the  cause  of  it  all  ? 
So  questioned  and  believed  many  of  the  frantic  men.  And 
one  man  raised  his  gun  and  shot  one  of  the  horses  in  the 
double  team,  which  carried  Mrs.  Hopkins  and  Mary.  This . 
made  it  necessary  for  them  to  walk  the  remainder  of  the 
way  in  the  broiling  sun  of  summer.  Mary  found  her 
little  girl  too  heavy  a  load,  and  after  awhile  was  kindly 
relieved  of  her  burden  by  a  Dakota  woman,  whom  she 
had  taught  to  wash.  The  excitement  and  trouble  were  a 
terrible  strain  on  her  nervous  system,  and  prematurely 
made  the  grey  hairs  come  here  and  there  among  the  black. 


80  MARY   AND    I. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1843-1846.— Great  Sorrow —Thomas  Drowned.— Mary's  Letter.— 
The  Indians'  Thoughts.— Old  Grey-Leaf.— Oxen  Killed.— 
Hard  Field.— Sleepy  Eyes.'  Horse.— Indian^in  Prison.— The 
Lord  keeps  us. — Simon's  Shame. — Mary's  Letter. — Robert 
Hopkins  and  Agnes. — Le  Bland. — White  Man  Ghost. — Ben- 
nett.— Sleepy  Eyes'  Camp. — Drunken  Indians. — Making 
Sugar. — Military  Company. — Dakota  Prisoners. — Stealing 
Melons. — Preaching  and  School. — A  Canoe  Voyage. — Red 
Wing. 

Suddenly,  at  the  very  commencement  of  our  new  sta- 
tion, we  were  called  to  meet  a  great  sorrow.  Mary  had 
come  back  from  Lac-qui-parle  with  the  two  little  girls,  and 
our  family  were  all  together  once  more.  Mr.  Huggins 
and  his  sister,  Miss  Fanny  Huggins,  and  Mr.  Isaac  Petti- 
john  had  come  down  along.  Mr.  Pettijohn  helped  us 
much  to  forward  the  log-cabin.  Saturday  came,  the  15th 
of  July — and  the  roof  was  nearly  finished.  We  should 
move  into  its  shelter  very  soon.  No  one  was  rejoicing  in 
the  prospect  more  than  the  young  brother,  Thomas  Law- 
rence Longley.  He  sang  as  he  worked  that  morning. 

Mr.  Huggins  had  the  toothache,  and  about  10  o'clock, 
said  he  would  go  and  bathe,  as  that  sometimes  helped  his 
teeth.  Brother  T.  proposed  that  we  should  go  also,  to 
which  I,  at  first,  objected,  and  said  we  would  go  after 
dinner.  He  thought  we  should  have  something  else  to  do 
then;  and,  remembering  that  once  or  twice  I  had  prevented 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE  SIOUX.  81 

his  bathing,  by  not  going  when  he  wished,  I  consented. 
We  had  been  in  the  water  but  a  moment,  when,  turning 
around,  I  saw  T.  throw  up  his  hands  and  clap  them  over 
his  head.  My  first  thought  was  that  he  was  drowning. 
The  current  was  strong  and  setting  out  from  the  shore.  I 
swam  to  him — he* caught  me  by  the  hand,  but  did  not  ap- 
pear to  help  himself  in  the  least — probably  had  the  cramp. 
I  tried  to  get  toward  shore  with  him,  but  could  not.  He 
pulled  me  under  once  or  twice,  and  I  began  to  think  I 
should  be  drowned  with  him.  But  when  we  came  up 
again,  he  released  his  grasp,  and,  as  I  was  coming  into 
shallow  water,  with  some  difficulty,  I  reached  the  shore- 
But  the  dear  boy  Thomas  appeared  not  again.  The  cruel 
waters  rolled  over  him.  In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Huggins 
had  jumped  into  a  canoe,  and  was  coming  to  our  relief 
But  it  was  too  late — TOO  LATE  ! 

Mary's  first  letter  after  the  15th  of  July,  1843  :— 
"  Traverse  des  Sioux,  Friday  noon  :  What  shall  I  add- 
my  dear  parents,  to  the  sad  tidings  my  husband  has  writ- 
ten? Will  it  console  you  in  any  measure,  to  know  that 
one  of  our  first,  and  most  frequent,  petitions,  at  the  throne 
of  grace,  has  been  that  God  would  prepare  your  hearts  for 
the  news,  which  we  feared  would  be  heart-breaking,  un- 
less '  the  Comforter  '  comforted  you,  and  the  Almighty 
strengthened  you?  We  hope — indeed  some  small  measure 
of  faith  is  given  us  to  believe — that  you  will  be  comforted 
and  sustained,  under  this  chastening  from  the  Lord. 
And  oh, — like  subdued,  humbled  and  penitent  children, — 
may  we  all  kiss  the  rod,  and  earnestly  pray  that  this  sore 
chastisement  may  be  for  our  spiritual  good. 

"  I  feel  that  this  affliction,  such  as  I  have  never  before 
known,  is  intended  to  prepare  us  who  are  left  for  life  and 
death.  Perhaps  some  of  us  may  soon  follow  him  whom  we 


82  MARY    AND    I. 

all  loved.  When  I  stand  by  his  grave,  overshadowed  by 
three  small  oaks,  with  room  for  another  person  by  his  side, 
I  think  that  place  may  be  for  me. 

"  The  last  Sabbath  he  was  with  us  was  just  after  my  re- 
turn from  Lac-qui-parle.  I  reached  here  on  Saturday,  and 
having  passed  through  distressing  scenes  on  our  way  to 
Lac-qui-parle,  occasioned  by  an  attack  of  the  Chippewas  on 
some  Sioux  who  were  coming  to  meet  us,  I  felt  uncommon 
forebodings  lest  something  had  befallen  the  dear  ones  I 
had  left  here.  But  I  endeavored  to  cast  my  care  upon 
the  Lord,  remembering  that  while  we  were  homeless  and 
houseless,  we  were  more  like  our  Saviour.  And  that  if 
He  was  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  we  surely  ought 
not  to  repine  if  we  were  treated  as  our  Master.  With 
such  feelings  as  these,  as  we  came  in  sight  of  husband's 
tent,  I  pointed  it  out  to  Isabella,  when  she  asked,  '  Where's 
papa's  house,'  and  soon  I  saw  Mr.  Riggs  and  Brother 
Thomas  and  little  Alfred  coming  to  meet  us. 

"  Not  quite  one  week  after  that  joyful  hour,  Mr.  Riggs 
came  home  from  the  Saint  Peter's,  groaning,  '  Oh,  Mary, 
Thomas  is  drowned — Thomas  is  drowned  !'  I  did  not,  I 
could  not  receive  the  full  import.  I  still  thought  his  body 
would  be  recovered  and  life  restored  ;  for  your  sakes  I 
cried  for  mercy,  but  it  came  not  in  the  way  I  then  desired- 
Still  I  tried  to  flatter  myself,  even  after  search  for  the 
body  had  been  given  up  for  the  day,  that  it  had  floated 
down  upon  a  sand-bar,  and  he  would  yet  live  and  return 
in  the  dusk  of  the  evening.  But  when  I  lay  down  for  the 
night,  and  the  impossibility  of  my  illusive  hopes  being 
realized  burst  upon  me,  oh — 

"  The  hand  of  the  Lord  had  touched  us,  and  we  were 
ready  to  sink  ;  but  the  same  kind  hand  sustained  us. 
May  the  same  Almighty  Father  strengthen  you.  One 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  83 

thought  comforted  me  not  a  little.  '  If  Brother  Thomas 
had  gone  home  to  our  father's  house  in  Massachusetts,  I 
should  not  have  grieved  much  ;  and  now  he  had  gone  to 
his  Father's  and  our  Father's  home  in  Heaven,  why 
should  I  mourn  so  bitterly?  I  felt  that  God  had  a  right 
to  call  him  when  He  pleased,  and  I  saw  His  mercy,  in 
sparing  my  husband  to  me  a  little  longer,  when  he  was 
but  a  step  from  the  eternal  world.  Still  I  felt  that  I  had 
lost  a  brother,  and  such  a  brother  ! 

"  Before  I  went  to  Lac-qui-parle,  I  had  confided  Alfred 
to  his  special  care.  I  knew  that  the  rejection  of  our  offer 
of  stopping  at  the  Little  Rapids,  by  the  Indians  there,  had 
been  exceedingly  painful  and  discouraging  to  Mr.  Riggs, 
and  the  rumor  that  the  Indians  here  would  do  likewise 
was  no  less  so  ;  and  I  should  have  felt  very  unpleasantly 
in  going  for  Isabella  at  that  time,  but  it  seemed  necessary, 
and  I  felt  that  Brother  Thomas  would  be,  what  he  was,  c  a 
friend  in  need.'  On  my  return,  on  recounting  the  scenes 
I  had  passed  through,  the  killing  by  the  Chippewas  of  the 
eldest  brother  of  one  of  our  young  men,  as  he  was  coming 
to  meet  him — the  shooting  of  one  of  our  horses  by  a  Sioux 
man,  who  pretended  to  be  offended  because  we  did  not 
pursue  the  Chippewas,  when  we  were  more  than  three 
miles  from  the  mission,  and  that  I  carried  Martha  there 
in  my  arms,  one  of  the  warmest  afternoons  we  had — 
Thomas  said,  c  I  see  you  have  grown  poor,  but  you  will 
improve  from  this  time.' 

"  On  Saturday  morning,  as  we  were  busily  engaged  near 
each  other,  he  sang,  'Our  cabin  is  small  and  coarse  our 
fare,  But  love  has  spread  our  banquet  here  !'  Soon 
afterward  he  went  to  bathe,  and  of  course  our  roof  and 
floor  remained  unfinished,  but  that  evening  we  terminated 
in  sadness,  what  had  been  to  us  a  happy  feast  of  taber- 


8i  MABY.AND   I. 

iiacles,  by  moving  into  our  humble  dwelling.  For  a  little 
while  on  Sabbath,  his  remains  found  a  resting  place  with- 
in the  house  his  hands  had  reared.  I  kissed  his  cheek  as 
he  lay  upon  a  plank  resting  on  that  large  red  chest  and 
box  which  were  sent  from  home,  but,  owing  to  the  haste 
and  excitement,  I  did  not  think  to  take  a  lock  of  hair.  It 
curled  as  beautifully  as  ever,  although  dripping  with 
water,  and  the  countenance  was  natural  I  thought,  but  it 
has  rather  dimmed  my  recollections  of  him  as  he  was 
when  living.  I  felt  so  thankful  that  his  body  had  been 
found  before  any  great  change  had  taken  place,  that  gra- 
titude to  God  supplanted  my  grief  while  we  buried  him. 
Mr.  Huggins  and  Fanny  sang  an  Indian  hymn  made  from 
the  15th  chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  and  then,  'Unveil 
thy  bosom  faithful  tomb.'  We  came  home  just  after 
sunset.  It  is  but  a  little  distance  from  our  dwelling,  and 
in  the  same  '  garden  of  roses,'  as  Thomas  called  it,  where 
he  now  sleeps." 

Only  a  few  additional  circumstances  need  to  be  noted. 
The  sad  story  was  carried  speedily  to  the  Indian  tents, 
and  those  who  were  in  the  neighborhood  came  to  look  on 
and  give  what  sympathy  and  help  they  could.  That  was 
not  much.  The  deep  hole  was  too  deep  to  be  reached  by 
any  means  at  our  command.  The  waters  rolled  on,  and 
to  us,  as  we  gazed  on  them,  knowing  that  the  dear  brother 
Thomas  was  underneath  them,  they  began  more  and  more 
to  assume  a  frightful  appearance.  For  months  and 
months  after,  they  had  that  frightful  look.  I  shuddered 
when  I  looked.  The  Indians  said  their  water  god,  Oonk- 
tehe,  was  displeased  with  us  for  coming  to  build  there. 
He  had  seized  the  young  man.  It  did  seem  sometimes  as 
though  God  was  against  us. 

The  Saturday's  sun  went  down  without  giving  success 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  85 

to  our  efforts,  and  on  Sabbath  morning  the  Indians  re- 
newed the  search  somewhat,  but  with  no  better  result. 
Toward  evening  the  body  was  found  to  have  risen  and 
drifted  to  a  sand-bar  below.  We  took  it  up  tenderly, 
washed  and  wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  sheet,  and  placed 
it  in  the  new  cabin,  on  which  his  hands  had  wrought.  A 
grave  was  dug  hastily  under  the  scrub-oaks,  where,  with 
only  some  loose  boards  about  it,  we  laid  our  brother  to 
rest  until  the  resurrection.  That  was  our  Allon-bachuth. 
We  were  dumb,  because  God  did  it.  That  was  the  first 
great  shadow  that  came  over  our  home.  It  was  one  of 
ourselves  that  had  gone.  The  sorrow  was  too  great  to 
find  expression  in  tears  or  lamentations.  The  Dakotas 
observed  this.  One  day  old  Slack  Eagle  came  in  and 
chided  us  for  it.  "  Tlie  ducks  and  the  geese  and  the 
deer  "  he  said,  "when  one  is  killed,  make  an  outcry  about 
it,  and  the  sorrow  passes  by.  The  Dakotas,  too,  like  these 
wild  animals,  make  a  great  wailing  over  a  dead  friend — 
they  wail  out  their  sorrow,  and  it  becomes  lighter;  but 
you  keep  your  sorrow — you  brood  over  it,  and  it  becomes 
heavier."  There  was  truth  in  what  the  old  man  said.  But 
we  did  not  fail  to  cast  our  burden  upon  the  Lord,  and 
to  obtain  strength  from  a  source  which  Black  Eagle  knew 
not  of. 

The  old  men  frequently  came  to  comfort  us  in  this  way, 
and  it  gave  us  an  opportunity  of  telling  them  about 
Christ,  who  is  the  great  Conqueror  over  death  and  the 
grave.  Sometimes  they  came  in  and  sat  in  silence,  as  old 
Sleepy  Eyes  and  Tankamane  often  did,  and  that  did  us 
good.  Old  Grey  Leaf  had  a  gift  of  talking — he  believed 
in  talking.  When  he  came  in  he  made  an  excited  speech, 
and  at  the  close  said,  "  I  don't  mean  anything." 

About  this  time  Mary  wrote  :     "  A  few  days  after  T. 


86  MARY   AND    I. 

was  drowned,  some  of  the  Indians  here,  entirely  regard- 
less of  our  affliction,  came  and  demanded  provisions,  as 
pay  for  the  logs  in  our  cabin.  Mr.  Biggs  had  previously 
given  them  two  barrels  of  flour,  and  it  was  out  of  our 
power  to  aid  them  any  more  then,  although  Mr.  R.  told 
them  after  their  cruel  speeches,  that  he  would  endeavor 
to  purchase  some  corn,  when  the  Fur  Company's  boat 
came  up.  They  threatened  killing  our  cattle  and  tearing 
down  our  cabin,  and  husband's  proposition  did  not  pre- 
vent their  executing  the  first  part  of  their  threat.  Just 
one  week  after  dear  T.  was  drowned,  one  ox  was  killed, 
and  in  eight  days  more  the  other  shared  the  same  fate. 
Then  we  felt  that  it  was  very  probable  our  cabin  would 
be  demolished  next." 

The  summer  was  wearing  away.  We  were  getting 
some  access  to  the  people.  On  the  Sabbath,  we  could 
gather  in  a  few,  to  be  present  while  we  sang  Dakota 
hymns,  and  read  the  Bible  and  prayed.  But  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  opposition.  As  our  oxen  had  been  killed 
and  eaten,  and  we  were  approaching  the  winter,  it  was 
necessary  that  we  have  some  means  of  drawing  our  fire 
wood.  So  I  bought  one  ox,  and  harnessed  him  as  the 
Red  River  people  do.  He  was  a  faithful  servant  to  us 
during  that  winter,  but  the  next  summer  he  too  was  kill- 
ed and  eaten.  This  time  they  came  boldly,  and  broke 
open  our  stable,  and  killed  and  carried  away  the  animal. 
It  seemed  as  if  they  were  determined  that  we  should  not 
stay.  Did  the  Lord  mean  to  have  us  give  up  our  work 
there  ?  We  did  not  want  to  decide  that  question  hastily. 

In  the  meantime  the  field  was  proving  to  be  a  very 
unpromising  as  well  as  difficult  one,  because  of  the  great 
quantities  of  whisky  brought  in.  Saint  Paul  was  then 
made  up  of  a  few  grog  shops,  which  relied  chiefly  on  the 


FOETY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  87 

trade  with  the  Indians.  They  took  pelts,  or  guns,  or 
blankets,  or  horses — whatever  the  Indian  had  to  give  for 
his  keg  of  whisky.  The  trade  was  a  good  one.  The 
Lower  Sioux  bought  for  the  Upper  ones,  and  helped  them 
to  buy;  and  those  at  the  Traverse  and  other  points  en- 
gaged in  the  carrying  trade.  When  a  keg  was  brought 
up,  a  general  drunk  was  the  result;  but  there  was  enough 
left  to  fill  with  water,  and  carry  up  farther  and  sell  for  a 
pony.  This  made  our  work  very  discouraging.  ,  Besides, 
we  were  often  annoyed  by  the  visits  of  drunken  Indians. 
Sometimes  they  came  with  guns  and  knives.  So  that  we 
all  felt  the  strain  of  those  years,  and  we  often  asked  one 
another,  "  What  good  is  to  come  of  this  ?" 

One  winter  night,  Sleepy  Eyes  had  come  in  from  Swan 
Lake,  and  placed  his  horse  at  our  haystack,  while  he  him- 
self went  to  the  trader's  to  spend  the  night.  Just  before 
we  retired  to  rest,  we  heard  voices  and  feet  hurrying  past 
our  door.  I  went  out  and  found  that  two  men  and  a  wo- 
man were  at  the  stable — the  men  were  shooting  arrows 
into  Sleepy  Eyes'  horse.  One  of  the  men  said,  "  I  asked 
uncle  for  this  horse,  and  he  did  not  give  it  to  me — I  am 
killing  it."  They  had  done  their  work.  Perhaps  I  had 
interfered  unnecessarily — certainly  unsuccessfully.  As 
tney  returned  and  passed  by  our  cabin,  I  was  behind 
them,  and  as  I  was  stepping  in  at  the  door,  an  arrow 
whizzed  by.  Was  it  intended  to  hit? 

The  next'  morning  that  Indian  started  off  for  whisky, 
but  a  white  man  passed  down  the  country  also,  and  told 
the  story  at  Fort  Snelling.  The  result  was,  that  the  man 
who  killed  his  uncle's  horse  was  put  in  the  guard  house. 
Not  for  that,  but  for  shooting  at  a  white  man,  he  was  to 
be  taken  down  into  Iowa,  to  be  tried  for  assault.  The 
commandant  of  the  post  at  Snelling  doubted  whether 


88  MARY   AND   I. 

good  would  come  of  it,  and  I  fully  agreed  with  him. 
And  so,  in  the  month  of  March,  Tankamane  (Big  Walker), 
and  I  went  down  to  the  Fort  and  procured  his  release. 
He  promised  well — he  would  drink  no  whisky  while  he 
lived — he  would  always  be  the  white  man's  friend.  He 
signed  the  pledge  and  went  back  with  Big  Walker  and 
myself.  A  captain's  wife  asked  how  I  dared  to  go  in 
company  with  that  man.  I  said,  "  Madam,  that  man 
will  be  my  best  friend."  And  so  he  was.  He  went  up 
to  the  Blue  Earth  hunting  grounds,  and  brought  us  in 
some  fine  venison  hams. 

"But  still  intemperance  increased.  A  drunken  man 
went  to  the  mission  singing,  and  asked  for  food.  They 
gave  him  a  plate  of  rice  and  a  spoon,  but  he  did  not  feel 
like  eating  then.  After  slobbering  over  it  awhile,  he 
comp  ^lled  the  white  women  to  eat  it.  They  were  too 
much  afraid  to  refuse.  One  time  Mr.  Hopkins  and  I 
were  both  away  until  midnight,  when  my  friend,  Tanka- 
mane, while  drunk,  visited  the  house  and  threatened  to 
break  in  the  door.  But  we  reached  home  soon  after- 
ward, and  the  women  slept.  Thus  we  had  the  "  terror 
and  the  arrow,"  but  the  Lord  shielded  us. 

These  were  very  trying  years  of  missionary  work.  It 
was  at  this  time  our  good  friend  and  brother,  Simon 
Anawanginane,  who  had  come  from  Lac-qui-parle,  gave 
way  to  the  temptation  of  strong  drink.  We  were  grieved 
and  he  was  ashamed.  We  prayed  for  him  and  with  him, 
and  besought  him  to  touch  it  not  again.  He  promised, 
but  did  not  keep  his  promise.  He  soon  developed  a 
passion  for  "  fire  water."  It  was  not  long  before  he  put 
off  his  white-man's  clothes,  and,  dressed  like  an  Indian, 
he,  too,  was  on  his  way  to  the  western  plains,  to  buy  a 
horse  with  a  keg  of  whisky.  There  were  times  of  re- 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE   SIOUX.  89 

penting  and  attempted  reformation,  but  they  were  fol- 
lowed by  sinning  again  and  again.  Shame  took  posses- 
sion of  the  man,  and  shame  among  the  Dakotas  holds 
with  a  terrible  grip.  He  will  not  let  go,  and  is  not  eas- 
ily shaken  off.  Shame  is  a  shameless  fellow;  it  instigates 
to  many  crimes.  So  eight  years  passed  with  Simon. 
Sometimes  he  was  almost  persuaded  to  attempt  a  new 
life.  Sometimes  he  cams  to  church  and  sit  down  on  the 
door  step,  not'  venturing  to  go  in,  he  was  afraid  of  him- 
self, as  well  hfe  might  be. 

"  TRAVERSE  DES  Sioux,  July  13,  1844. 
«*  *  *  The  Indians  and  the  babies,  the  chickens 
and  the  mice  seem  leagued  to  destroy  the  flowers,  and 
they  have  well  nigh  succeeded.  Perhaps  you  will  won- 
der why  I  should  bestow  any  of  my  precious  time  on  flow- 
ers, when  their  cultivation  is  attended  with  so  many 
difficulties.  The  principal  reason  is,  that  I  find  my  mind 
needs  some  such  cheering  relaxation.  In  leaving  my  child- 
hood's home  for  this  Indian  land,  you  know,  my  dear 
mother,  I  left  almost  everything  I  held  dear,  and  gave  up 
almost  every  innocent  pleasure  I  once  enjoyed.  Much 
as  I  may  have  failed  in  many  respects,  I  am  persuaded 
there  was  a  firmness  of  purpose,  to  count  no  necessary 
sacrifice  too  great  to  be  made.  I  do  not  think  I  have 
made  what  should  be  called  great  sacrifices,  but  I  am 
using  the  phrase  as  it  is  often  used,  and  I  am  conscious 
that,  in  some  respects,  I  have  tasked  myself  too  hard.  I 
feel  that  I  have  grown  old  beyond  my  years.  Even  the 
last  year  has  added  greatly  to  my  gray  hairs.  I  have 
been  spending  my  strength  too  rapidly,  and  I  have  often 
neglected  to  apply  to  Him  for  strength,  of  whom  Isaiah 
says,  'He  giveth  power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that 


90  MARY   AND    I. 

have  no  might  He  increaseth  strength.'  How  beautiful 
and  precious  is  the  promise  to  those  who  wait  upon  the 
Lord  !  When  '  even  the  youths  shall  faint  and  be  weary, 
and  the  young  men  shall  utterly  fall;'  'they  that  wait 
upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength,  they  shall 
mount  up  with  wings,  as  eagles,  they  shall  run  and  not 
be  weary,  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint.'  Oh,  if  we  could 
live  by  faith,  the  difficulties  and  the  trials  of  the  way 
would  not  greatly  trouble  or  distress  us." 

In  the  spring  of  1844,  Robert  and  Agnes  Hopkins  came 
down  from  Lac-qui-parle,  and,  for  the  next  seven  years, 
were  identified  with  the  missionary  work  at  Traverse  des 
Sioux.  The  opposition  to  our  remaining  gradually  died 
away  and  was  lived  down.  Louis  Provencalle,  the  trader, 
alias  Le  Bland,  had  probably  tried  to  carry  water  on  both 
shoulders,  but  he  was  thoroughly  converted  to  our  friend- 
ship by  an  accident  which  happened  to  himself.  The  old 
gentleman  was  carrying  corn,  in  strings,  into  his  upper 
chamber  by  an  outside  ladder.  With  a  load  of  this  corn 
on  his  back,  he  fell  and  caught  on  his  picket  fence,  the 
sharp  pointed  wood  making  a  terrible  hole  in  his  flesh. 
For  months  I  visited  him  almost  daily  and  dressed  his 
wound.  He  recovered,  and  although  he  was  not  the  less 
a  Romanist,  he  and  his  family  often  came  to  our  meetings, 
and  were  our  fast  friends.  Perhaps  some  seeds  of  truth 
were  then  sown,  which  bore  fruit  in  the  family  a  score  of 
years  afterward. 

Thus  we  had,  occasionally,  an  opportunity  to  help  a 
fellow  white  man  in  trouble.  It  was  one  Saturday  in  the 
early  part  of  September,  while  we  were  at  work  on  our 
school-house,  that  an  Indian  runner  came  in  from  Swan 
Lake,  to  tell  us  that  a  "ghost"  had  come  to  their  camp. 
A  white  man  had  come  in  in  the  most  forlorn  and  desti- 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  91 

tute  condition.     The  story  is  well  told  by  Mary  in  her 
letters  home. 

"  TRAVERSE  DES  Sioux,  Oct.  10,  1844. 

"  We  have  just  returned  in  safety,  after  spending  a 
week  very  pleasantly  and  profitably  at  Lac-qui-parle.  An 
armed  force,  from  Forts  Snelling  and  Atkinson,  have  re- 
cently passed  up  to  Lake  Traverse,  to  obtain  the  mur- 
derers of  an  American  killed  by  a  Sisseton  war  party,  this 
summer. 

The  circumstances  of  the  murder  were  very  aggravat- 
ing, as  communicated  to  us  by  the  only  known  survivor. 
A  gentleman  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  Turner  by  name, 
with  three  men  were  on  their  way  to  Fort  Snelling  with 
a  drove  of  cattle  for  the  Indians.  Being  unacquainted 
with  the  country,  they  wandered  to  the  north-west,  when 
they  were  met  by  a  war  party  of  Sisseton  Sioux,  return- 
ing from  an  unsuccessful  raid  upon  the  Ojibwas.  Finding 
them  where  they  did,  on  their  way  apparently  to  the  Red 
River  of  the  North,  they  supposed  they  belonged  to  that 
settlement,  with  whom  they  had  recently  had  a  quarrel 
about  hunting  Buffalo.  And  so  they  commenced  to  treat 
these  white  men  roughly,  demanding  their  horses,  guns, 
and  clothes.  One  man  resisted  and  was  killed,  the  others 
were  robbed.  Shirts,  drawers,  hats  and  vests  were  all 
that  were  left  them.  Some  of  the  cattle  were  killed,  and 
the  rest  fled.  One  of  the  Americans,  with  some  Indians, 
was  sent  after  them,  but  he  made  his  escape,  and  was 
never  heard  of  again.  The  next  morning,  the  other  two 
were  permitted  to  leave,  but  the  only  requests  they  made 
for  their  coats,  a  knife,  and  a  life  preserver,  were  not 
granted. 

"The  second  and  third  day  after  this  escape,  they  saw 


92  MARY   AND    I. 

the  cattle,  and  if  only  a  knife  had  been  spared  them,  they 
might  have  supplied  themselves  with  provisions,  but  as 
they  were,  it  was  safest,  they  thought,  to  hasten  on.  On 
the  fourth  day,  they  came  to  a  stream  too  deep  to  ford, 
and  Turner  could  not  swim.  Poor  Bennett  attempted  to 
swim  with  him,  but  was  drawn  under  several  times,  and, 
to  save  his  own  life,  was  obliged  to  disengage  himself  from 
Turner,  who  was  drowned.  Bennett  came  on  alone  five 
days,  finding  nothing  to  eat  but  hazel-nuts,  when  at  length 
he  came  in  sight  of  the  Sioux  Lodges  at  Swan  Lake.  He 
lay  awake  that  night  deliberating  whether  he  should  go 
to  them  or  not.  '  If  I  went,'  he  said,  '  I  expected  they 
would  kill  me;  if  I  did  not  go,  I  knew  I  must  die,  and  I 
concluded  to  go,  for  I  could  but  die.' 

"  The  next  morning  he  tottered  toward  the  Sioux  camp. 
Ever  and  anon  he  stopped  and  hid  in  the  grass.  The 
Dakotas  watched  his  movements.  Some  young  men 
went  out  to  meet  him,  but  Bennett  was  afraid  of  them, 
and  tried  to  crawl  away.  When  the  old  man  Sleepy 
Eyes  himself  came  in  sight,  his  benevolent,  honest  coun- 
tenance assured  the  young  white  man,  and  he  staggered 
toward  the  Dakota  chief.  His  confidence  was  not  mis- 
placed. Sleepy  Eyes  took  the  Manage,  ghost,  as  they 
called  him,  to  his  tent,  and  his  daughter  made  bread  for 
him  of  flour,  which  the  old  man  had  bought  of  us  a  few 
days  before  ;  and  Bennett,  declared  he  never  ate  such 
good  bread  in  his  life.  Mr.  Riggs  brought  him  home? 
for  which  he  said  he  was  willing  to  be  his  servant  for- 
ever. We  furnished  him  with  such  clothing  as  we  had, 
and  after  three  weeks  recruiting,  we  sent  him  home. 
At  Fort  Snelling,  he  was  furnished  with  money  to  go  to 
his  parents,  whom  he  had  left  without  their  consent. 

"  Since  our    return    from    Lac-qui-parle,    the  Indians 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH   THE   SIOUX.  93 

have  been  drunk  less  than  for  some  time  before.  At 
one  time  quite  a  number  of  men  came  in  a  body  and 
demanded  powder,  which  Mr.  Riggs  intended  giving 
them.  I  buttoned  the  door  to  prevent  their  entrance,  as 
Mr.  R.  was  not  in  at  the  moment,  but  the  button  flew  into 
pieces  as  the  sinewy  arm  of  Tankamane  pressed  the 
latch.  Some  of  the  party  were  but  slightly  intoxicated^ 
Those  Mr.  R.  told  positively  that  he  should  not  listen  to  a 
request  made  by  drunken  men,  notwithstanding  their 
threatening  "  to  soldier  kill  "  him — that  is,  to  kill  his 
horse.  Tankamane  was  so  drunk  that  he  would  not  be 
silent  enough  to  hear,  until  Mr.  R.  covered  his  mouth 
with  his  hand  and  commanded  him  to  be  still,  and  then 
assured  them  that  he  was  not  ready  to  give  them  the 
powder,  and  that  they  had  better  go  home,  which  they 
did  soon. 

"  I  am  not  usually  much  alarmed,  though  often  con- 
siderably excited.  Some  Sabbaths  since,  a  party  of 
Indians  brought  a  keg  of  whisky,  and  proposed  drinking 
it  in  our  new  building,  which  is  intended  for  a  chapel 
and  school-room.  But  the  Lord  did  not  permit  this 
desecration.  One  of  their  number  objected  to  the  plan, 
and  they  drank  it  outside  the  door." 

When  our  school-house  was  erected  and  partly  fin- 
ished, our  efforts  at  teaching  took  on  more  of  regularity. 
It  was  a  more  convenient  room  to  hold  our  Sabbath  ser- 
vice in.  In  religious  teaching,  as  well  as  in  the  school^ 
Mr.  Hopkins  was  an  indefatigable  worker.  He  learned 
the  language  slowly  but  well.  Often  he  made  visits  to 
the  Indian  camps  miles  away.  When  the  Dakotas  of 
that  neighborhood  abstained  for  awhile  from  drinking,  we 
became  encouraged  to  think  that  some  good  impressions 
were  being  made  upon  them..  But  there  would  come  a 


94  MARY    AND    I. 

new  flooding  of  spirit  water,  and  a  revival  of  drinking. 
Thus  our  hopes  were  blasted. 

"  TRAVERSE   DES    Sioux,  March    15,   1845. 

"  At  the  present  time  our  Indian  neighbors  are  absent, 
some  at  their  sugar  camps,  and  others  hunting  muskrats. 
Thus  far  the  season  has  not  been  favorable  for  making  sugar, 
and  we  have  purchased  but  a  few  pounds,  giving  in  return 
flour  or  corn,  of  which  we  have  but  little  to  spare.  Last 
spring  we  procured  our  year's  supply  from  the  Indians, 
and  for  the  most  of  it  we  gave  calico  in  exchange.  Not 
for  our  sakes,  but  for  the  sake  of  our  ragged  and  hungry 
neighbors,  I  should  rejoice  in  their  having  an  abundant 
supply.  They  eat  sugar,  during  the  season,  as  freely  as 
we  eat  bread,  and  what  they  do  not  need  for  food  they 
can  exchange  for  clothing.  But  they  will  have  but  little 
for  either,  unless  the  weather  is  more  favorable  the  last 
half  than  it  has  been  the  first  part  of  this  month.  And 
they  are  so  superstitious,  that  some,  I  presume,  will  attrib- 
ute the  unpropitious  sky  and  wind  to  our  influence.  Mr. 
Hopkins  visited  several  camps  about  ten  miles  distant, 
soon  after  the  first,  and,  thus  far,  the  only  good  sugar 
weather.  One  woman  said  to  him,  "  You  visited  us  last 
winter  ;  before  you  came  there  were  a  great  many  deer, 
but  afterward,  none  ;  and  now  we  have  made  some 
sugar,  but  you  have  come,  and  perhaps  we  shall  make  no 
more." 

"  June  23,  1845. 
"  My  Dear  Mother, — 

"  Having  put  our  missionary  cabin  in  order  for  the  recep- 
tion of  Captains  Sumner  and  Allen,  and  Doctor  Nichols,  of 
the  army,I  am  reminded  of  home.  I  have  not  made  half  the 
preparation  which  you  used  to  make  to  receive  military 
company,  and  I  could  not  if  I  would,  neither  would  I  if 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  95 

I  could.  I  do,  however,  sometimes  wish  it  afforded  me 
more  pleasure  to  receive  such  guests,  when  they  occasion- 
ally pass  through  the  country.  \Ve  have  so  many  un- 
civilized and  so  few  civilized,  and  our  circumstances  are 
such  that  I  almost  shrink  from  trying  to  entertain  com- 
pany. I  sometimes  think  that  even  mother,  with  all  her 
hospitality,  would  become  a  little  selfish,  if  her  kitchen, 
parlor,  and  dining-room  were  all  one." 

This  was  the  second  military  expedition  made  to  secure 
the  offenders  of  the  Sisseton  war  party.  The  one  made  in 
the  fall  of  1844  secured  five  Indians,  but  not  the  ones  con- 
sidered most  guilty.  But  they  made  their  escape  on  the  way 
down  to  Traverse  des  Sioux.  The  expedition,  to  which 
reference  is  made  above,  was  more  successful.  The 
Indians  pledged  themselves  to  deliver  up  the  guilty  men. 
They  did  so.  Four  men  were  delivered  up  and  taken 
down  to  Dubuque,  Iowa,  where  they  were  kept  in  confine 
ment  until  winter.  Then  they  were  permitted  to  escape, 
and,  strange  to  say,  three  of  them  died  while  making  their 
way  back,  and  one  lived  to  reach  his  friends.  It  was 
very  remarkable,  that  three  Indians  should  be  placed 
over  against  three  white  men,  in  the  outcome  of  Provi- 
dence. 

"August  15,  1845. 

"Our  garden  enclosure  extends  around  the  backside 
and  both  ends  of  our  mission  house,  while  in  front  is  a 
double  log  cabin,  with  a  porch  between.  Back  of  the 
porch  we  have  a  very  small  bed-room,  which  our  children 
now  occupy,  and  back  of  our  cabin,  as  it  was  first  erected, 
we  have  a  larger  bed-room,  which,  by  way  of  distinction, 
we  call  the  nursery.  The  door  from  this  room  opens  into 
the  garden.  The  room  does  not  extend  half  the  length 


96  MARY    AND    I. 

of  the  double  log  cabin,  so  that  Mr.  Hopkins  has  a  room 
corresponding  with  our  nursery,  and  then  between  the 
two  wings,  we  have  two  small  windows,  one  in  the  chil- 
dren's bed-room,  and  the  other  in  our  family-room.  Shad- 
ing the  latter  are  Alfred's  morning-glories  and  a  rose 
bush.  A  shoot  from  this  wild  rose  has  often  attracted 
my  attention,  as  day  after  day  it  has  continued  its  upward 
course.  It  is  now  seven  feet  high — the  growth  of  a  single 
season — and  is  still  aspiring  to  be  higher.  Bowed  beneath 
it  is  a  sister  stalk  laden  with  rose-buds.  Last  year  it  was 
trampled  upon  by  drunken  Indians,  but  now  our  fence 
affords  us  some  protection,  and  we  flattered  ourselves  that 
our  pumpkins  and  squashes  would  be  unmolested.  But 
we  found,  to  our  surprise  one  day,  that  our  garden  had 
been  stripped  of  the  larger  pumpkins  the  night  previous. 
Our  situation  here,  at  a  point  where  the  roving  sons  of 
the  prairie  congregate,  exposes  us  to  annoyances  of  this 
kind  more  frequently  than  at  other  stations  among  the 
Sioux.  I  can  sympathize  very  fully  with  Moffat  in  like 
grievances,  which  he  mentions  in  his  '  Southern  Africa.' " 

"January  29,  1846. 

"  For  several  Sabbaths  past  we  have  had  a  small  congre- 
gation. It  encourages  us  somewhat  to  see  even  a  few, 
induced  to  listen  for  a  short  time  to  the  truths  of  the  gospel. 
But  our  chief  encouragement  is  in  God's  unfailing  prom- 
ises. The  Indians  here  usually  sit  during  the  whole 
service,  and  sometimes  smoke  several  times. 

"  For  some  weeks  I  have  been  teaching  the  female  part 
of  our  school.  Some  days  half  a  dozen  black-eyed  girls 
come,  and  then  again,  only  one  or  two.  Their  parents 
tell  them  that  we  ought  to  pay  them  for  coming  to  school, 
and  although  there  have  been  no  threats  of  cutting  up  the 
blankets  of  those  who  read,  as  there  was  last  winter,  they 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  97 

are  still  ridiculed  and  reproached.  We  have,  in  various 
ways,  endeavored  to  reward  them  for  regular  attendance, 
in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  favor  the  idea  that  we  were 
hiring  them." 

In  the  spring  of  1846,  Mary  wanted  to  get  away,  for  a 
little  rest.  We  fitted  up  a  canoe,  and,  with  a  young  man 
of  the  fur  trade,  we  started  down  the  Minnesota.  Mary 
had  her  baby,  our  fourth  child,  whose  name  was  Anna 
Jane.  We  had  scarcely  well  started,  when  we  met 
drunken  Indians.  Their  canoe  was  laden  with  kegs  of 
whisky,  and  they  were  on  shore  cooking.  They  called  to 
us  to  come  over  and  give  them  some  food  ;  but  we  passed 
by  on  the  other  side.  One  man  raised  his  gun  and  poured 
into  us  a  volley  of  buck-shot.  Fortunately,  Mary  and 
the  baby  were  not  touched.  The  canoe  and  the  rest  of 
us  were  somewhat  sprinkled,  but  not  seriously  hurt. 

That  canoe  voyage  was  continued  down  the  Mississippi 
River  as  far  as  Red  Wing.  At  Mr.  Pond's  station  we 
took  in  Jane  Lamonte,  afterward  Mrs.  Titus.  Where 
the  city  of  St.  Paul  now  is  we  made  a  short  stop,  and  I 
hunted  up  one  of  our  Dakota  church  members,  the  wife 
of  a  Frenchman.  A  half  a  dozen  log  houses,'  one  here 
and  one  there,  made  up  the  St.  Paul  of  that  day.  At 
Pine  Bend,  Mr.  Brown  left  us.  After  that  the  rowing 
was  heavy  and  the  muscles  were  light.  Just  above  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  we  found  a  house,  where  we  spent 
the  night  comfortably.  The  next  day,  we  reached  Red 
Wing,a  Dakota  village,or  Hay-minne-chan,with  much  diffi- 
culty. We  had  to  row  against  a  strong  head  wind,  and 
I,  who  was  the  principal  oarsman,  fell  sick.  But  as  Prov- 
idence would  have  it,  we  came  upon  a  woodman,  who 
took  us  to  the  village. 

Red  Wing  was  the  station  of  the  Swiss  mission,  occu- 


yb  MARY    AND    I. 

pied  by  the  Dentans.  Mrs.  Dentan  had  been  a  teacher 
in  the  Mackinaw  mission  school.  Here  we  found  good 
Christian  friends,  and  spent  two  weeks  in  helping  them 
to  do  missionary  work.  While  we  were  there,  I  went  to 
see  a  young  man  whom  the  medicine  men  were  conjur- 
ing. The  Dakota  doctor  claimed  that  the  spirit,  which 
caused  the  disease,  was  greatly  enraged  at  my  presence. 
And  so,  at  their  earnest  request,  I  retired.  That  sick 
young  man  is  now  one  of  our  excellent  native  pastors. 
We  have  since  talked  over  the  event  with  much  interest. 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  99 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1846-1851.— Returning  to  Lac-qui-parle.— Reasons  Therefor.— 
Mary's  Story.—"  Give  me  my  Old  Seat,  Mother."— At  Lac. 
qui-parle.— New  Arrangements.— Better  Understanding.— 
Buffalo  Plenty.— Mary's  Story.— Little  Samuel  Died.— Going 
on  the  Hunt.— Vision  of  Home.— Building  House.— Dakota 
Camp. — Soldier's  Lodge. — Wakanmane's  Village. — Making 
a  Presbytery — New  Recruits. — Meeting  at  Kaposia. — Mary's 
Story.— Varied  Trials.— Sabbath  Worship.— "  What  is  to 
Die ?» — New  Stations. — Making  a  Treaty. — Mr.  Hopkins 
Drowned. — Personal  Experience. 

The  time  came  when  it  was  decided  that  Mary  and  I 
should  go  back  to  Lac-qui-parle.  The  four  years  since 
we  left  had  brought  many  changes.  They  had  been 
years  of  discouragement  and  hardship  all  along  the  line. 
The  brothers  Pond  had  built  among  the  people  of  their 
first  love — the  old  Lake  Calhoun  band,  now  located  a 
short  distance  up  from  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  There 
they  had  a  few  who  came  regularly  to  worship  and  to 
learn  the  way  of  Life.  But  the  mass  of  the  people  of 
Cloud  Man's  village  were  either  indifferent  or  opposed 
to  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

At  Lac-qui-parle,  where  had  been  the  best  seed-sowing 
and  harvesting  for  the  first  seven  years,  the  work  had 
gone  backward.  Bad  corn  years  had  driven  some  of  the 
native  Christians  to  take  refuge  among  the  annuity  In- 
dians of  the  Mississippi.  Temptations  of  various  kinds 
had  drawn  away  others — they  had  stumbled  and  fallen. 


100  MARY   AND    I. 

Persecutions  from  the  heathen  party  had  deterred  others, 
and  some  had  fallen  asleep  in  Christ.  Among  these  last 
was  Mr.  Joseph  Renville,  who  had  stood  by  the  work  from 
the  beginning.  He  had  passed  away  in  the  month  of 
March;  and  thus  the  Lac-qui-parle  church  was  reduced 
to  less  than  half  its  members  of  four  years  ago. 

Out  of  this  church  there  had  gone  a  half  a  dozen  or  so, 
chiefly  women,  down  to  Kaposia,  or  Little  Crow's  village, 
which  was  on  the  Mississippi,  a  few  miles  below  the  site 
of  St.  Paul.  Through  them,  more  than  any  other  influ- 
ence perhaps,  there  came  an  invitation  from  Little  Crow 
and  the  head  men  of  the  village,  to  Dr.  Williamson, 
through  the  Indian  agent  at  Fort  Snelling,  to  come  down 
and  open  a  school  and  a  mission.  This  application  was 
considered  at  the  meeting  of  the  Dakota  mission  held  at 
the  Traverse,  and  the  voices  were  in  favor  of  acceptance. 
But  if  Dr.  Williamson  left  Lac-qui-parle,  that  involved  the 
necessity  of  our  returning  thither.  This  proposition  Mary 
could  not  entertain  willingly.  True,  the  work  at  the  Tra- 
verse had  been  full  of  hardships  and  suffering,  but  the 
very  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and  especially  that  great  first 
sorrow,  had  strongly  wedded  her  affections  to  the  place 
and  the  people.  It  was  hard  to  leave  those  Oaks  of  Weep- 
ing. She  could  not  see  that  it  was  right,  still  she  would 
not  refuse  to  obey  orders. 

And  so  the  month  of  September,  1846,  found  us  travel- 
ing over  the  same  road  that  we  had  gone  on  our  first 
journey,  just  nine  years  before.  Then  we  two  had  gone; 
now  we  had  with  us  our  four  little  ones,  but  it  was  a  sad 
journey.  The  mother's  heart  was  not  convinced,  nor  was 
it  satisfied  we  had  done  right,  until  some  time  after  we 
reached  Lac-qui-parle. 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.  101 

MARY'S  STORY. 
"  TRAVERSE  DES  Sioux,  Sept.  17,  1846. 

"  This  is  probably  the  last  letter  I  shall  write  you  from 
this  spot  so  dear  to  us.  If  I  could  see  that  it  was  duty  to 
go,  it  would  cheer  me  in  the  preparations  for  our  depart- 
ure, but  I  cannot  feel  that  the  interests  of  the  mission 
required  such  a  sacrifice  as  leaving  this  home  is  to  me. 

"  These  are  some  of  the  thoughts  that  darken  the  pros- 
pect, when  I  think  of,  leaving  the  comforts  and  conven- 
iences which  we  have  only  enjoyed  one  or  two  short  sum- 
mers— such  as  the  enclosure  for  our  children — our  rude 
back  porch  which  has  served  for  a  kitchen,  the  door  into 
which  I  helped  Mr.  Riggs  saw  with  a  cross-cut  saw,  be- 
cause he  could  get  no  one  to  help  him.  We  located  here 
in  the  midst  of  opposition  and  danger,  yet  God  made  our 
enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  us.  Sad  will  be  the  hour 
when  I  take  the  last  look  of  our  low  log  cabins,  our  neat 
white  chapel,  and  dear  Thomas'  grave." 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  Dec.  10,  1846. 

"  How  pleasant  it  would  be,  dear  mother,  to  join  your 
little  circle  around  home's  hearth;  but  it  is  vain  to  wish, 
and  so  I  take  my  pen,  that  this  transcript  of  my  heart  may 
enter  where  I  cannot.  In  one  of  the  late  New  York 
Observer's,  I  found  a  gem  of  poetry,  which  seemed  so 
much  like  the  gushings  of  my  affection  for  my  mother, 
that  I  must  send  you  the  verse  which  pleased  me  best: 

"'Give  me  my  old  seat,  mother, 

With  my  head  upon  thy  knee ; 
I've  passed  through  many  a  changing  scene, 

Since  thus  I  sat  by  thee. 
Oh,  let  me  look  into  thine  eyes — 

Their  meek,  soft,  loving  light 
Falls  like  a  gleam  of  holiness, 

Upon  my  heart,  to-night !  ' 


102  MARY    AND    I. 

"  How  very  often  have  I  found  myself  half  wishing  for 
my  old  seat,  with  my  head  upon  thy  knee,  that  I  might 
impart  to  you  my  joys  and  my  sorrows,  and  listen  to  your 
own.  In  times  of  difficulty  and  distress,  how  I  have 
longed  for  your  counsel  and  cheering  sympathy.  After 
leaving  our  home  at  Traverse  des  Sioux  and  reaching  this 
place,  my  heart  yearned  to  embrace  you.  My  associates 
could  not  comprehend  why  it  should  be  so  trying  to  me 
to  leave  that  place  so  dear  to  us.  I  had  hoped  to  live  and 
die  and  be  buried  there  by  the  loved  grave  of  Thomas. 
I  had  laid  plans  for  usefulness  there,  and  the  change  that 
came  over  us  in  one  short  week,  during  which  we  packed 
all  our  effects  and  prepared  for  the  journey,  was  so  sud- 
den and  so  great,  that  it  often  seemed  I  should  sink  under 
it.  Had  I  been  able  to  see  it  clearly  our  duty,  the  case 
would  have  been  different.  I  hope  it  will  prove  for  the 
best.  Doubtless  I  was  too  much  attached  to  that  burial 
spot  and  that  garden  of  roses.  Henceforth,  may  I  more 
fully  realize  that  '  we  have  no  abiding  city  here,'  and, 
like  a  pilgrim,  press  onward  to  that  eternal  haven — that 
unchanging  home — little  mindful  where  I  pass  the  few 
brief  nights  that  may  intervene." 

"Dec.  16. 

"  You  will,  I  think,  feel  gratified  to  know  that  there 
are  some  things  pleasant  and  encouraging  here,  notwith- 
standing the  discouragements.  The  sound  of  the  church- 
going  bell  is  heard  here — the  bell  which  we  purchased 
with  the  avails  of  moccasins  donated  by  the  church  mem- 
bers. Some  of  those  contributors  are  dead,  and  others 
have  backslidden  or  removed,  still  there  are  more  hearers 
of  the  word  here  than  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  although 
the  large  majority  in  both  places  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
calls  and  entreaties  of  the  gospel.  Quite  a  number  of 


FORTY   YEABB   WITH   THE    8IOTJX.  103 

the  women  who  attend  the  Sabbath  services  can  read,  but 
some  of  them  cannot  find  the  hymns,  and  I  enjoy  very 
much  finding  the  places  for  them." 

Our  place  at  the  Traverse  was  filled  by  Mr.  A.  G  Hug- 
gins'  family,  who  thenceforward  became  associated  with 
Mr.  Hopkins  until  they  closed  their  connection  with  the 
mission  work.  Fanny  Huggins  had  married  Jonas  Petti- 
john,  and  they  were  our  helpers  at  Lac-qui-parle  for  the 
next  five  years. 

The  time  seemed  to  have  come  when  our  relations  to 
the  Indians  should,  if  possible,  be  placed  upon  a  better 
basis.  From  the  time  that  the  chief  men  came  to  under- 
stand that  the  religion  of  Christ  was  an  exclusive  relig- 
ion, that  it  would  require  the  giving  up  of  their  ancestral 
faith,  they  set  themselves  in  opposition  to  it.  Sometimes 
this  was  shown  in  their  persecution  of  the  native  Chris- 
tians, forbidding  them  to  attend  our  meetings,  and  cutting 
up  the  blankets  of  those  who  came.  Sometimes  it  was 
exhibited  in  the  order  that  the  children  should  not  attend 
school.  But  the  organized  determination  to  drive  us 
from  the  country  showed  itself  most  decidedly  in  killing 
our  cattle.  We  could  not  continue  in  the  country,  and 
make  ourselves  comfortable,  without  a  team  of  some 
kind.  This  then  was  to  be  their  policy.  They  would 
kill  our  cattle.  They  would  steal  our  horses.  And  they 
had  so  persistently  held  to  this  line  of  treatment,  during 
the  last  four  years,  that  Dr.  Williamson  and  his  associates 
had,  with  difficulty,  kept  a  team  of  any  kind.  Once  they 
were  obliged  to  hitch  up  milch  cows  to  haul  fire-wood. 

The  Indians  said  we  were  trespassers  in  their  country, 
and  they  had  a  right  to  take  reprisals.  We  used  their 
wood  and  their  water,  and  pastured  our  animals  on  their 
grass,  and  gave  them  no  adequate  pay.  We  had  helped 


104  MARY    AND    I. 

them  get  larger  corn  patches  by  ploughing  for  them,  we 
had  furnished  food  and  medicines  to  their  sick  ones,  we 
had  often  clothed  their  naked  ones,  we  had  spent  and 
been  spent  in  their  service,  but  all  this  was,  in  their  esti- 
mation, no  compensation  for  the  field  we  planted,  and 
the  fuel  we  used,  and  the  grass  we  cut,  and  the  water  we 
drank.  They  were  worth  a  thousand  dollars  a  year! 

And  so  it  seemed  to  me  the  time  had  come  when  some 
better  understanding  should  be  reached  in  regard  to  these 
things.  I  called  the  principal  men  of  the  village — Oo-pe- 
ya-hdaya,  Inyangmane  and  Wakanmane,  and  others,  and 
told  them  that,  as  Dr.  Williamson  was  called  away  by  the 
lower  Indians,  my  wife  and  I  had  been  sent  back  to  Lac- 
qui-parle,  but  we  would  stay  only  on  certain  conditions. 
We  knew  them  and  they  knew  us.  If  we  could  stay 
with  them  as  friends,  and  be  treated  as  friends,  we  would 
stay.  We  came  to  teach  them  and  their  children.  But 
if  then,  or  at  any  time  afterward,  we  learned  that  the 
whole  village  did  not  want  us  to  stay,  we  would  go  home 
to  our  friends.  For  the  help  we  gave  them,  the  water  we 
used  must  be  free,  the  wood  to  keep  us  warm  must  be 
free,  the  grass  our  cattle  ate  must  be  free,  and  the  field 
we  planted  must  be  free;  but  when  we  wanted  their  best 
timber  to  build  houses  with,  which  we  should  do,  I  would 
pay  them  liberally  for  it.  This  arrangement  they  said 
was  satisfactory,  and  soon  afterward,  we  bought  from 
them  the  timber  we  used  in  erecting  two  frame  houses. 

From  this  time  onward  we  did  not  suffer  so  much  from 
cattle  killing,  though  it  has  always  been  an  incident 
attaching  to  mission  life  among  the  Indians.  For  the 
years  that  followed  we  were  generally  treated  as  friends. 
Sometimes  there  was  a  breeze  of  opposition,  some  wanted 
us  to  go  away,  but  we  always  had  friends  who  stood  by 


FORTY    TEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  105 

us.  And  they  were  not  always  of  the  same  party.  The 
results  of  mission  work  began  to  be  seen  in  the  young 
men  who  grew  up,  many  of  them  desirous  of  adopting, 
in  part  at  least,  the  habits  and  the  dress  of  the  whites. 

There  was  another  reason  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
on  their  part;  viz.,  that  starvation  did  not  so  much  stare 
them  in  the  face.  They  had  better  corn  crops  than  for 
some  years  previous.  And  besides  this,  for  two  seasons 
the  buffalo  range  was  extended  down  the  Minnesota  far 
below  Lac-qui-parle.  For  many  years  they  had  been  far 
away,  west  of  Lake  Traverse.  Now  they  came  back,  and 
for  two  winters  our  Indians  reveled  in  fresh  buffalo  meat, 
their  children  and  dogs  even  growing  fat.  And  the  buf- 
falo robes  gave  them  the  means  of  clothing  their  families 
comfortably. 

Sometimes  the  herds  of  bison  came  into  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  village.  One  morning  it  was  found 
that  a  large  drove  had  slept  on  the  prairie  but  a  little 
distance  back  of  our  mission  houses.  Mr.  Martin  Mc- 
Leod,  the  trader,  and  a  few  others  organized  a  hunt  on 
horseback.  There  was  snow  on  the  ground,  I  hitched 
our  ponies  to  a  rude  sled,  and  we  went  to  the  show.  As 
the  hunters  came  into  the  herd  and  began  to  shoot  them, 
the  excitement  increased  in  our  sled — the  ponies  could 
not  go  fast  enough  for  the  lady. 

We  now  addressed  ourselves  afresh  to  the  work  of 
teaching  and  preaching.  The  day-school  filled  up.  We 
took  some  children  into  our  families.  The  young  men 
who  had  learned  to  read  and  write  when  they  were  boys, 
came  and  wanted  to  learn  something  of  arithmetic  and 
geography.  In  the  work  of  preaching,  I  began  to  feel 
more  freedom  and  joy.  There  had  been  times  when  the 
Dakota  language  seemed  to  be  barren  and  meaningless. 


106  MARY   AND    I. 

The  words  for  Salvation  and  Life,  and  even  Death  and 
Sin,  did  not  mean  what  they  did  in  English.  It  was  not 
to  me  a  heart-language.  But  this  passed  away.  A  Da- 
kota word  began  to  thrill  as  an  English  word.  Christ 
came  into  the  language.  The  Holy  Spirit  began  to  pour 
sweetness  and  power  into  it.  Then  it  was  not  exhaust- 
ing, as  it  sometimes  had  been — it  became  a  joy  to  preach. 

MARY'S  STORY. 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  May  17,  1847. 

"  Since  Mr.  Riggs  left  home,  two  weeks  to-day,  I  have 
had  a  double  share  of  wants  to  supply.  I  could  almost 
wish  he  had  locked  up  the  medicine  case  and  taken  the 
key  with  him,  for  I  have  not  so  much  confidence  in  my 
skill  as  to  suppose  the  Indians  would  have  suffered,  if  it 
had  been  out  of  my  power  to  satisfy  their  wants.  I  pur- 
posed only  giving  rhubarb  and  a  few  other  simples,  but  I 
have  been  besieged  until  I  have  yielded,  and  have  110  re- 
lief to  hope  for  until  Mr.  Riggs  returns. 

"  In  addition  to  the  medicines,  there  has  been  a  great 
demand  for  garden  seeds,  to  say  nothing  of  the  common 
wants  of  a  little  thread,  or  soap,  or  patches  for  a  ragged 
short-gown,  or  a  strip  of  white  cloth  for  the  head  to  en- 
able them  to  kill  ducks  or  buffalo,  as  the  case  may  be. 
There  is  scarcely  any  view  of  God's  character  that  gives 
me  so  clear  an  apprehension  of  his  infinite  goodness  and 
power,  as  that  of  his  kind  care  of  his  sinful  creatures. 
He  listens  to  their  requests,  and  giving  doth  not  impov- 
erish, neither  doth  withholding  enrich  Him." 

"May  26. 

"  This  afternoon  twenty-six  armed  Indian  men  paraded 
before  the  door  and  discharged  their  guns.  I  was  a  little 
startled  at  first,  but  soon  learned  that  they  had  been  in 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  107 

search  of  Chippewas,  that  were  supposed  to  be  concealed 
near  by,  and  that  they  had  returned  unsuccessful,  and 
were  merely  indulging  in  a  little  military  exercise." 

«  January  11,  1848. 

"  The  last  Sabbath  in  December,  Mr.  Riggs  spent  at  an 
Indian  encampment  about  sixteen  miles  from  this  place. 
When  he  left  home,  baby  Samuel,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petti- 
john's  only  child,  was  ill,  but  we  did  not  apprehend  dan- 
gerously so;  when  he  returned  on  Monday  noon,  little 
Samuel  was  dead.  This  has  been  a  severe  affliction  to 
them.  Why  was  this  first  born  and  only  son  taken,  and 
our  five  children  spared,  is  a  query  that  often  arises. 

"  Some  weeks  ago,  an  elderly  woman  with  a  young  babe, 
begged  me  for  clothing  for  the  little  one.  I  asked  her  if 
it  was  her  child.  She  replied  that  it  was  her  grandchild, 
that  its  mother  died  last  summer,  and  that  she  had  nursed 
it  ever  since.  At  first  she  had  no  milk,  but  she  continued 
nursing  it,  until  the  milk  flowed  for  the  little  orphan. 
This,  thought  I,  is  an  evidence  of  a  grandmother's  love 
not  often  witnessed.  I  felt  very  compassionate  for  the 
baby,  and  gave  the  grandmother  some  old  clothing. 
After  she  left,  a  knife  was  missing,  which  seemed  rather 
like  a  gypsy's  compensation  for  the  kindness  received. 
But  perhaps  she  was  not  the  thief,  as  our  house  was  then 
thronged  with  visitors  from  morning  till  night.  We  en- 
deavor to  keep  such  things  as  they  will  be  tempted  to 
steal,  out  of  their  reach,  but  a  mother  cannot  watch  three 
or  four  children,  and  perform  necessary  household  duties 
at  the  same  time,  without  sometimes  affording  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  cunning  hand  to  slip  away  a  pair  of  scissors 
or  a  knife  unnoticed. 

"The  buffalo  are  about  us  in  large  herds.  I  have  just 
taken  a  ride  of  four  or  five  miles  to  see  these  natives  of 


108  MAEY    AND    I. 

the  prairie.  Before  the  herd  perceived  our  approach  they 
were  quietly  standing  together,  but,  on  perceiving  us, 
they  waited  a  moment  for  consultation,  and  then  started 
bounding  away.  Those  who  were  prepared  for  the  chase 
entered  their  ranks,  and  then  the  herd  separated  into  three 
or  four  parts,  and  scampered  for  life  in  as  many  different 
directions.  Several  -were  killed  and  dressed,  and  we 
brought  home  the  huge  head  of  one  for  the  children  to 
see,  besides  the  tongue  and  some  meat,  which  were  given 
us  as  our  share  of  the  spoils." 

"May  25,  1848. 

"  How  very  quiet  and  green  I  think  those  lanes  are — 
no  noise  except  the  whispering  winds  in  those  beautiful 
elms  and  maples;  and  those  still  rooms,  where  rang  the 
merry  shout  of  children  returned  from  school.  I  could 
almost  fancy  they  would  look  as  sober  and  somber  as 
those  dark  firs  under  which  we  played  when  we  and  they 
were  small.  They  still  are  young  and  vigorous,  for  ought 
I  know,  but  we,  alas!  are  young  no  longer.  Do  the  lilacs, 
and  roses,  and  snowballs  still  bloom  as  brightly  as  ever? 
But  the  thought  of  those  bright  and  beautiful  scenes 
makes  me  sad,  and  I  wish  to  write  a  cheering  letter,  so 
good-by  to  the  visions  of  departed  joys. 

"  We  are  building,  this  summer,  a  plain,  snug,  one-story 
house,  with  a  sitting-room,  kitchen  arid  two  bed-rooms  on 
the  lower  floor,  and  two  rooms  above,  if  ever  they  should 
be  completed.  We  have  been  hoping  to  have  a  young 
lady  to  assist  in  teaching,  etc.,  for  an  occupant  of  one  of 
our  bed-rooms,  but  the  prospect  is  rather  discouraging. 
And  yet,  I  feel  that  it  is  no  more  so  than  we  deserve,  for 
I  have  not  exercised  faith  in  this  respect.  I  have,  how- 
ever some  hope  that  He,  *  Who  is  able  to  do  exceeding 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE   SIOUX.  109 

abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,'  will  send  us 
such  fellow  laborers  as  we  need." 

During  these  two  buffalo  winters,  almost  the  whole  vil- 
lage removed  up  to  the  Pomme  de  Terre,  or  Owobaptay 
River,  as  the  Dakotas  called  it.  That  was  a  better  point 
to  hunt  from.  For  the  regulation  of  the  hunt,  and  to 
prevent  the  buffalo  from  being  driven  off,  they  organized 
a  Soldiers'  Lodge.  This  was  a  large  tent  pitched  in  the 
center  of  the  camp,  where  the  symbols  of  power  were 
kept  in  two  bundles  of  red  and  black  sticks.  These  re- 
presented the  soldiers — those  who  had  killed  enemies  and 
those  who  had  not.  To  this  tent  the  women  brought 
offerings  of  wood  and  meat  ;  and  here  the  young  and  old 
men  often  gathered  to  feast,  and  from  these  headquarters 
went  forth,  through  an  Eyanpaha  (cryer),  the  edicts  of 
the  wise  men. 

For  these  two  winters,  I  arranged  to  spend  every  alter- 
nate Sabbath  at  the  camp,  going  up  on  Saturday  and  re- 
turning on  Monday.  This  soldiers'  tent  was,  from  the 
first,  placed  at  my  disposal  for  Sabbath  meetings.  It 
was  an  evidence  of  a  great  change  in  the  general  feeling 
of  the  village  toward  Christianity.  It  was  a  public 
recognition  of  it.  All  were  not  Christians  by  any  means; 
but  the  following  was  honorable  and  honored,  and  we 
usually  had  a  crowded  tent.  Our  evening  meetings  were 
held  in  the  tent  of  one  of  our  church  members.  So  the 
Word  of  God  grew  in  Dakota  soil. 

Where  the  village  of  Lac-qui-parle  now  stands,  is  the 
site  of  Wakanmane's  planting-place  and  village  of  those 
days.  In  one  of  the  summer  bark  houses,  we  were  ac- 
customed to  hold  a  week-day  meeting.  Our  mission  was 
three  miles  from  there,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
•  Minnesota  ;  but  it  was  only  a  pleasant  walk  of  a  summer 


110  MAEY    AND    I. 

day,  and  I  was  sure  to  find  a  little  company,  chiefly- 
women,  of  from  half  a  dozen  to  a  dozen  present.  After 
two-years'  absence,  Dr.  Williamson  returned  to  Lac-qui- 
parle  on  a  visit,  and  remarked  that  he  had  found  no  meet- 
ings among  the  Dakotas  so  stimulating  and  encouraging 
as  that  weekly  prayer-meeting.  I  have  since  spent  a 
Sabbath,  and  worshiped  with  white  people  on  the  same 
spot.  It  seemed  like  Jacob  coming  back  to  Bethel,, 
where  the  angels  of  God  had  been. 

There  were  still  few  things  to  encourage,  and  many  to 
discourage,  all  through  the  Dakota  field;  but  it  began  to 
appear  to  us,  that  if  our  forces  could  be  doubled,  the 
work,  with  God's  blessing,  might  be  pushed  forward  suc- 
cessfully. And  so  the  Dakota  Presbytery,  which  was 
organized  in  1845,  proceeded  to  license  and  ordain 
Gideon  H.  Pond  and  Robert  Hopkins  as  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  They  had  both  been  working  in  this  line  for 
years,  and  it  was  fit  that  they  should  now  be  properly 
recognized  as  fellow  laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 

The  American  Board  was  ready  also  to  respond  to  our 
call  for  more  help.  In  the  spring  of  1848,  Rev.  M.  N. 
Adams  and  Rev.  John  F.  Aiton  were  sent  up  from  Ohio- 
and  Illinois;  and  later  in  the  season,  Rev.  Joshua  Potter 
came  from  the  Cherokee  country.  Our  annual  meeting 
was  held  that  year  with  Dr.  Williamson,  at  his  new  sta- 
tion, Kaposia,  a  few  miles  below  St.  Paul.  It  was  a 
meeting  of  more  than  ordinary  interest ;  not  only  on 
account  of  our  own  reinforcements,  but  because  we  met 
there  two  lady  teachers,  (Gov.  Slade's  girls),  the  first  sent 
out  to  the  white  settlements  of  Minnesota.  The  toilers 
of  fourteen  years  among  the  Dakotas  now  shook  hands 
with  the  first  toilers  among  the  white  people. 

The  boy  Thomas  had  been  added  to  our  little  group  of 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          Ill 

children.  With  a  part  of  the  family,  Mary  now  made- 
the  trip  back  to  the  Traverse,  with  a  much  gladder  heart 
than  she  had  when  coming  up  two  years  before. 

MARY'S  STORY. 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  Oct.  16,  1848. 

"  This  year  the  annual  meeting  of  our  mission  was  at 
Kaposia,  the  station  occupied  by  Dr.  Williamson  and 
family.  I  accompanied  Mr.  Riggs  with  three  of  our 
children.  From  the  Traverse,  Mr.  Hopkins  had  arranged 
that  we  should  proceed  through  the  J3ig  Woods,  by 
means  of  ox  carts.  There  was  no  road  cut  yet,  and  hun- 
dreds of  large  logs  lay  across  the  path  ;  but  the  patient 
animals  worried  over  them,  and  drivers  and  riders  were 
very  weary,  when,  late  at  night,  we  came  into  camp.  At 
Prairieville,  as  Tintatonwe  signifies,  where  Mr.  S.  W. 
Pond  is  located,  we  spent  the  Sabbath,  and  reached  Dr. 
Williamson's  on  Monday,  only  eight  days  from  Lac-qui- 
parle,  not  a  little  fatigued,  but  greatly  prospered  in  our 
journey.  More  truly  than  did  the  Gibeonites,  could  we 
say,  4  This  our  bread  we  took  hot  for  our  provision,  out 
of  our  houses,  on  the  day  we  came  forth  to  go  unto  you, 
but  now  behold  it  is  dry,  and  it  is  moldy.' 

"  At  Kaposia  we  found  the  Messrs.  Pond,  also  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Aiton,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams,  who  have  recently 
joined  the  Sioux  mission.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hopkins  with 
the'.r  three  children,  who  were  of  our  party  from  the 
Traverse,  and  ourselves  in  addition  to  Dr.  William- 
son's family,  made  such  a  company  as  I  had  not  seen 
for  a  long  time.  The  warm  reception  we  met  with 
from  so  many  kindred  in  Christ  excited  me  almost  as 
much  as  did  the  greeting  at  home  after  five -years'  ab- 
sence. It  reminded  me  of  that  happy  meeting,  and,  as 


112  MARY    AND    I. 

at  that  time,  I  was  overpowered  with   joyful  emotions. 

"  We  passed  nearly  a  week  at  Kaposia,  and  then  set  our 
faces  homeward,  spending  a  night  at  Mr.  G.  H.  Pond's, 
at  Oak  Grove,  and  one  also  at  Mr.  Samuel  W.  Pond's,  at 
Tintatonwe.  Two  nights  we  camped  out,  and  reached 
Traverse  on  Friday  afternoon.  While  there  I  often  went 
to  brother  Thomas'  grave.  The  turf  which  I  assisted  in 
setting  was  very  green,  and  the  rose  bushes  were  flourish- 
ing. The  cedar  we  planted  withered,  but  a  beautiful 
one,  placed  by  Mr.  Hopkins  near  the  grave,  is  fresh  and 
verdant.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams  returned  with  us  to  Lac- 
qui-parle. 

"  LAC-QUI-PARLE,  Jan.  6,  1849. 

"  The  Spirit  has  seemed  near  us,  and  we  hope  A.  is  lis- 
tening to  his  teachings.  Some  of  the  Indians  also  have 
manifested  an  inquiring  state  of  mind,  but  Satan  is 
very  busy,  and  unless  the  Lord  rescues  his  rebellious 
subjects  from  the  thralldom  of  the  devil,  I  fear  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  depart  from  us. 

"  The  same  foolish  yet  trying  accusations  are  made — 
such  as  that  we  are  to  receive  pay  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  scholars  in  the  school  here  when  the  land  is 
sold — that  we  are  using  up  their  grass  and  timber  and 
land,  and  making  then  no  requital.  A  few  days  ago 
the  old  chief  and  his  brother-in-law  came  and  rehearsed 
their  supposed  claims,  and  said  that  the  Indians  were 
tired  eating  corn,  and  wanted  one  of  our  remaining 
cattle.  Truly  we  can  say  that  this  earth  is  not  our  rest, 
and  rejoice  that  we  shall  not  live  here  always. 

"  We  have  had  faith  to  expect  that  the  Lord  was 
about  to  c  make  bare  His  arm,'  for  the  salvation  of  these 
degraded  Indians  ;  and  although  the  heathen  rage,  we 
know  that  '  He  who  sitteth  on  the  circle  of  the  earth, 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.        113 

and  the  inhabitants  thereof  are  as  grasshoppers,'  can 
turn  the  hearts  of  this  people  '  as  the  rivers  of  water  are 
turned." 

"  May  31,  1849. 

"  During  Mr.  Riggs'  absence,  our  worship  on  the  Sab- 
bath, both  in  Sioux  and  English,  has  consisted  of  reading 
the  Scriptures,  singing  and  prayer.  I  have  been  grati- 
fied that  so  many  attended  the  Sioux  service — about 
thirty  each  Sabbath.  Anna  Jane  remarked  the  Saturday 
after  her  father  left  home,  c  We  can't  have  any  Sabbath 
because  two  men  and  one  woman  are  gone,'  referring  to 
her  papa  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams.  Still  these  Sabbaths 
have  brought  to  us  privileges,  even  though  the  preached 
Word  and  the  great  congregation  have  been  wanting." 

"  June  15. 

"  Mr.  Riggs  reached  home  two  weeks  ago,  and  last  Mon- 
day he  left  again  for  Big  Stone  Lake,  ^accompanied  by 
Mr,.  Hopkins,  of  Traverse  des  Sioux.  They  have  gone 
hoping  for  opportunities  to  proclaim  the  Word  of  God  to 
the  Sioux  in  that  region. " 

"  Sept.  2,  1850. 

"  Last  evening,  hearing  Thomas  cry  after  he  had  gone 
to  rest,  I  went  to  the  chamber.  Alfred  was  teaching  him 
to  say,  '  Now  I  lay  me,'  and  the  sentence,  '  If  I  should 
die,'  distressed  him  very  much.  I  soothed  him  by  asking 
God  to  keep  him  through  the  night.  He  has  never  seen 
a  corpse,  but,  a  few  weeks  ago,  he  saw  Mrs.  Antoine  Ren- 
ville  buried,  and  he  has  seen  dead  birds  and  chickens. 
He  said,  '  What  is  to  die,  mamma?1  and  evidently  felt 
that  it  was  something  very  incomprehensible  and  dread- 
ful. I  felt  a  difficulty  in  explaining  it,  and  I  wished  to 
soothe  the  animal  excitement,  and  not  lessen  the  serious 


MARY   AND    I. 

state  of  mind  he  manifested.  I  think  I  will  tell  him  more 
about  Jesus'  death — his  burial  and  resurrection.  It  is 
this  that  has  illumined  the  grave.  It  is  faith  in  Him  who 
has  conquered  c  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,'  which 
will  give  us  the  victory  over  every  fear." 

With  an  increased  missionary  force,  we  hoped  to  see 
large  results  within  the  next  few  years.  There  was  pro- 
gress made,  but  not  so  much  as  we  hoped  for.  In  fact, 
it  was  chiefly  apparent  in"  "  strengthening  the  things  that 
remain."  Just  before  this  enlargement,  Mr.  S.  "W.  Pond 
had  separated  from  his  brother,  and  formed  a  station  at 
Shakopee,  or  Six's  Village,  which  he  called  Prairieville. 
After  awhile,  little  churches  were  organized  at  Kaposia, 
Oak  Grove,  Prairieville,  and  Traverse  des  Sioux.  At 
Lac-qui-parle  the  numbers  in  the  church  were  somewhat 
increased.  We  began  to  have  more  young  men  in  the 
church,  and  they  began  to  separate  themselves  more  and 
more  from  the  village,  and  to  build  cabins  and  make 
fields  for  themselves.  Thus  the  religion  of  Christ  worked 
to  disintegrate  heathenism. 

The  summer  of  1851  came,  which  brought  great  changes, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  others.  It  was  one  of  the  very 
wet  summers  in  Minnesota,  when  the  streams  were  flooded 
all  the  summer  through.  In  making  our  trip  for  provis- 
ions in  the  spring,  we  were  detained  at  the  crossing  of 
one  stream  for  almost  a  whole  week.  In  the  latter  part 
of  June,  the  Indians  from  all  along  the  upper  part  of  the 
Minnesota  were  called  down  to  Traverse  des  Sioux,  to 
meet  commissioners  of  the  government.  They  were 
obliged  to  swim  at  many  places.  The  Minnesota  was 
very  high,  spreading  its  waters  over  all  the  low  bottom 
contiguous  to  the  mission  premises.  Governor  Ramsay 
and  Commissioner  Lea  were  there  for  the  government. 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH   THE    SIOUX.  115 

Gen  Sibley  and  the  fur  traders  generally  were  present, 
with  a  large  number  of  the  Wahpaton  and  Sisseton  Sioux. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  to  be  celebrated  grandly,  and 
Mr.  Hopkins  had  consented  to  take  a  part  in  the  celebra- 
tion, but  the  Lord  disposed  otherwise.  In  the  early  morn- 
ing, Mr.  Hopkins  went  to  bathe  in  the  overflow  of  the 
river.  When  the  family  breakfast  was  ready  he  had  not 
returned.  He  was  sought  for,  and  his  clothes  alone  were 
found.  He  had  gone  up  through  the  flood  of  water.-  It 
was  supposed  that,  unintentionally,  he  had  waded  in  be- 
yond his  depth,  and  as  he  could  not  swim,  was  unable 
again  to  reach  the  land. 

This  was  the  second  great  sorrow  that  came,  in  the 
same  way,  to  the  mission  band  of  Traverse  des  Sioux.  It 
threw  a  pall  over  the  festivities  of  the  day.  The  Indians 
said  again  the  Oonktehe — their  Neptune — was  angry  and 
had  taken  the  wechasta  waJcan.  But  the  mission  families 
were  enabled  to  say,  "  It  is  the  Lord."  When  the  body 
floated  it  was  caught  in  fishing  nets,  and  carefully  taken 
up  and  buried  by  the  "  Oaks  of  Weeping."  Mr.  Hop- 
kins did  not  live  to  see  much  matured  fruit  of  his  labors, 
but  he  had  put  in  eight  years  of  good,  honest  work  for  the 
Master,  among  the  Dakotas,  and  he  has  his  reward. 

The  Treaty  was  made,  which,  with  one  consummated 
immediately  after,  at  Mendota,  with  the  Lower  Sioux, 
conveyed  to  the  white  people,  all  their  land  in  Minnesota, 
except  a  reserve  on  the  upper  part  of  the  river.  These 
treaties  had  an  important  bearing  on  our  mission  work, 
and  on  all  the  eastern  Dakotas. 

The  messenger  who  brought  word  to  us  at  Lac-qui- 
parle,  of  the  sudden  death  of  our  brother,  Robert  Hopkins, 
brought  also  to  me  a  pressing  invitation  from  the  com- 
mission to  attend  the  making  of  the  Treaty.  I  at  once 


116  .  MARY   AND   I. 

mounted  a  pony  and  rode  down.  It  gave  me  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  inside  of  Indian  treaties.  On  my 
return,  I  was  in  advance  of  the  Indians,  and,  coming  to 
the  Chippewa  alone,  I  found  no  way  of  crossing  its 
swollen  tide  but  by  swimming.  In  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  my  horse  turned  over  backward,  and  we  went 
down  to  the  bottom  together.  He  soon,  however, 
righted  himself,  and  I  came  up  by  his  side,  with  one 
hand  holding  his  mane.  I  remember  well  the  feeling 
I  had  when  in  the  deep  waters,  that  my  horse  would  take 
me  out.  And  I  was  not  disappointed.  This  event  has 
ever  since  been  to  me  a  lesson  of  trust.  "  Though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no 
evil  :  for  Thou  art  with  me;  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staif  they 
comfort  me." 


FOBTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         117 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1851-1854. — Grammar  and  Dictionary. — How  it  grew. — Publica 
tion. — Minnesota  Historical  Society. — Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion.— Going  East. — Mission  Meeting  at  Traverse  de  Sioux. — 
Mrs.  Hopkins. — Death's  Doings. — Changes  in  the  Mode  of 
Writing  Dakota.— Completed  Book.— Growth  of  the  Lan- 
guage.— In  Brooklyn  and  Philadelphia. — The  Misses 
Spooner.— Changes  in  the  Mission. — The  Ponds  and  Oth- 
ers Retire. — Dr.  Williamson  at  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze. — Winter 
Storms.— Andrew  Hunter. — Two  Families  Left.— Children 
Learning  Dakota. — Our  House  Burned. — The  Lord  Pro- 
vides. 

A  grammar  and  dictionary  of  the  Dakota  language  had 
been  going  through  the  process  of  growth,  in  all  these 
years.  It  was  incidental  to  our  missionary  work,  and  in 
the  line  of  it.  The  materials  came  to  us  naturally,  in  our 
acquisition  of  the  language,  and  we  simply  arranged 
them.  The  work  of  arrangement  involved  a  good  deal 
of  labor,  but  it  brought  its  reward,  in  the  better  insight 
it  gave  one  of  their  forms  of  thought  and  expression. 

To  begin  with,  we  had  the  advantage  of  what  had  been 
gathered  by  the  Messrs.  Pond  and  Stevens  and  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson, in  the  three  years  before  we  came.  Perhaps  an 
effort  made  still  earlier,  by  some  officers  of  the  army  at 
Fort  Snelling,  in  collecting  a  vocabulary  of  a  few  hun- 
dred words  of  the  Sioux  languLige,  should  not  be  over- 
looked. Thus,  entering  into  other  men's  labors,  when  we 
had  been  a  year  or  more  in  the  country,  and  were  some- 


118  MARY   AND    I. 

what  prepared  to  reap  on  our  own  account,  the  vocabu- 
lary which  I  had  gathered  from  all  sources,  amounted 
to  about  three  thousand  words. 

From  that  time  onward,  it  continued  to  increase  rapidly, 
as  by  means  of  translations  and  otherwise,  we  were  gath- 
ering new  words.  In  a  couple  of  years  more,  the  whole 
needed  revision  and  rewriting,  when  it  was  found  to  have 
more  than  doubled.  So  it  grew.  Mr.  S.  W.  Pond  also 
entered  into  the  work  of  arranging  the  words  and  noting 
the  principles  of  the  Dakota  language.  He  gave  me  the 
free  use  of  his  collections,  and  he  had  the  free  use  of 
mine.  This  will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  the  way  in  which 
the  work  was  carried  on,  from  year  to  year.  How  many 
dictionaries  I  made  I  cannot  now  remember.  When  the 
collection  reached  ten  thousand  words  and  upward,  it 
began  to  be  quite  a  chore  to  make  a  new  copy.  By  and 
by  we  had  reason  to  believe  that  we  had  gathered  pretty 
much  the  whole  language,  and  our  definitions  were  meas- 
urably correct. 

It  was  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1851,  when  the 
question  of  publication  was  first  discussed.  Certain  gen- 
tlemen in  the  Legislature  of  Minnesota,  and  connected 
with  the  Historical  Society  of  Minnesota,  became  inter- 
ested in  the  matter.  Under  the  auspicies  of  this  society, 
a  circular  was  printed  setting  forth  the  condition  of  the 
manuscript,  and  the  probable  expense  of  publication,  and 
asking  the  co-operation  of  all  who  were  interested  in 
giving  the  language  of  the  Dakotas  to  the  literary  world 
in  a  tangible  and  permanent  form.  The  subscription 
thus  started  by  the  Historical  Society,  and  headed  by 
such  names  as  Alexander  Ramsay  then  governor  of  the 
Territory,  Rev.  E.  D.  Neill  the  secretary  of  the  society, 
H.  H.  Sibley,  H.  M.  Rice  and  Martin  McLeod,  the  chiefs 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         119 

of  the  fur  trade,  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  amounted 
to  about  eight  hundred  dollars.  With  this  sum  pledged, 
it  was  considered  quite  safe  to  commence  the  publication. 
The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions very  cheerfully  consented  to  pay  my  expenses  while 
carrying  the  work  through  the  press,  besides  making  a 
donation  to  it  directly  from  their  Treasury. 

From  these  sources  we  had  $1,000;  and  with  this  sum 
the  book  might  have  been  published  in  a  cheap  form, 
relying  upon  after  sales  to  meet  any  deficiency.  But, 
after  considering  the  matter,  and  taking  the  advice  of 
friends  who  were  interested  in  the  highest  success  of  the 
undertaking,  it  was  decided  to  oifer  it  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institution,  to  be  brought  out  as  one  of  their  series  of 
contributions  to  knowledge.  Prof.  Joseph  Henry  at  once 
had  it  examined  by  Prof.  C.  C.  Felton  and  Prof.  W.  W. 
Turner.  It  received  their  approval  and  was  ordered  to 
be  printed. 

In  the  meantime,  Mary  and  I  had  undertaken  our  sec- 
ond trip  to  the  East.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams,  who  had  been 
away  awhile  on  account  of  Mrs.  Adams'  health,  were  now 
back  at  Lac-qui-parle,  associated  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petti- 
john.  We  commenced  our  journey  across  the  prairie 
about  the  first  of  September.  The  waters  were  still  high, 
and  we  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  boat  which  should 
serve  as  a  bed  for  one  of  our  wagons,  and  be  easily  trans- 
ferred to  the  water. 

Our  children  now  numbered  a  round  half  dozen.  The 
baby,  Henry  Martyn,  about  two  years  old,  must  be  taken 
along  of  course.  The  boy,  "  Good  Bird,"  now  about  four- 
teen, we  would  take  down  with  us  and  send  to  school  in 
Illinois.  Isabella  we  concluded  to  take  on  to  the  moth- 
er's mountain  home  in  Massachusetts.  The  two  little 


120  MAKY   AND    I. 

girls  were  kindly  cared  for  in  the  family  of  Rev.  E.  D. 
Neill,  of  St.  Paul;  and  the  little  boy,  Thomas,  was  to  stay 
in  Dr.  Williamson's  family,  at  Kaposia.  Thus  the  distri- 
bution was  finally  made. 

The  mission  meeting  took  place  this  year  at  Traverse 
des  Sioux.  Among  other  consultations  it  was  adjudged 
wise  fur  Mrs.  Hopkins  and  her  three  children — the  father 
and  husband  being  gone — to  accompany  us  on  their 
return  to  her  friends  in  Southern  Ohio.  The  brothers 
Pond,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Hancock,  who  had  joined  the 
mission  and  was  stationed  at  Red  Wing,  all  had  their 
horses,  and  the  travel  by  land  being  difficult,  they  put 
them  on  board  our  good  mission  boat  Winona,  and  so  we 
had  a  full  cargo  down  to  St.  Paul. 

From  there  we  had  a  steamer  to  Galena,  where  we  took 
passage  in  freight  wagons  that  were  going  to  Elgin,  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad  that  was  then  being  made  west 
from  Chicago.  This  trip  across  the  country,  we  all  greatly 
enjoyed,  stopping  at  Freeport  over  the  Sabbath,  and  list- 
ening to  the  somewhat  celebrated  revivalist,  Elder  Knapp. 
We  crossed  Lake  Michigan,  and  by  the  Michigan  Central 
to  Detroit,  and  then  took  a  lake  boat  to  Cleveland.  That 
night  we  encountered  a  lake  storm;  and  while  almost 
every  one  was  sea-sick,  Mary  and  I  stood  on  the  fore  deck 
and  enjoyed  watching  the  mountain  waves. 

Reaching  the  land  in  safety,  Mrs.  Hopkins  and  her  little 
family  went  to  Southern  Ohio,  and  we  spent  a  few  days 
in  Medina,  with  Mary's  brother,  Rev.  M.  M.  Longley. 
We  found  that  the  eight  years  which  had  passed  since  we 
were  East  before,  had  made  a  good  many  vacant  chairs  in 
our  home  circles.  My  own  father  had  been  called  from 
earth  very  suddenly,  in  1845.  He  was  well  and  had  done 
a  hard  day's  work,  but  ere  the  evening  shadows  fell  he  had 


FOBTY    YEAE8    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  121 

passed  beyond  the  river.  The  angel  of  death  and  the 
angel  of  life  had  visited  Mary's  home  again  and  again. 
First  the  grandfather,  Col.  Edmund  Longley,  had  gone  to 
his  fathers,  at  the  good  old  age  of  ninety-five.  Then  in 
1848,  the  pater  familias,  Gen.  Thomas  Longley,  had 
wrapped  his  cloak  about  him  and  laid  him  down  to  rest. 
The  next  to  hear  the  summons  was  the  little  sister,  Hen- 
rietta Arms.  She  had  grown  to  be  a  woman,  and  Mary 
fondly  hoped  to  have  her  companionship  and  aid  in  the 
Dakota  field.  But  the  Master  called  her  up  higher.  And 
then,  only  a  few  months  before  we  reached  Ohio,  the  lov- 
ing, cultured,  and  beloved  brother,  Alfred,  had  passed 
through  months  of  weariness  and  pain,  up  to  the  new  life 
and  vigor  of  the  heavenly  world.  He  had  been  preach- 
ing for  several  years  in  Northeastern  Ohio.  So  many 
had  gone  that  when  we  reached  the  mountain  home  in 
Hawley,  we  found  it  desolate.  Only  Joseph  and  his 
mother  remained.  Mary  soon  persuaded  her  mother  to 
go  down  to  South  Deerfield,  that  they  might  together 
spend  the  winter  with  the  older  sister,  Mrs.  Cooley.  And 
I  went  to  New  York  City,  and  was,  the  next  seven 
months,  engaged  in  getting  through  the  press  the  gram- 
mar and  dictionary  of  the  Dakota  language. 

Of  the  various  hindrances  and  delays,  and  of  the  burn- 
ing of  the  printing  office  in  which  the  work  was  in  pro- 
gress, and  the  loss  of  quite  a  number  of  pages  of  the 
book  which  had  to  be  again  made  up,  I  need  not  speak. 
They  are  ordinary  incidents.  Early  in  the  summer  of 
1852,  the  work  was  done — and  done,  I  believe,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  parties.  It  has  obtained  the  commen- 
dation of  literary  men  generally,  and  it  was  said  that  for 
no  volume  published  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  up 
to  that  time,  was  the  demand  so  great  as  for  that.  It  is 


122  MARY   AND    I. 

now  out  of  print,  and  the  book  can  only  be  bought  at 
fancy  prices. 

The  question  of  republication  is  sometimes  talked  of, 
but  no  steps  have  been  taken  yet  to  accomplish  the  ob- 
ject. While,  as  the  years  have  gone  by,  and  the  book 
has  been  tested  by  Dakota  scholars  and  found  to  be  all 
that  was  ever  claimed  for  it,  yet,  in  case  of  a  republica- 
tion, some  valuable  additions  can  be  made  to  the  sixteen 
thousand  words  which  it  contains.  The  language  itself 
is  growing.  Never  probably,  in  its  whole  history,  has  it 
grown  so  much  in  any  quarter  of  a  century,  as  it  has  in 
the  twenty-five  years  since  the  dictionary  was  published. 
Besides,  we  have  recently  been  learning  more  of  the 
Teeton  dialect,  which  is  spoken  by  more  than  half  of  the 
whole  Sioux  nation.  And,  as  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
has  progressed,  thoughts  and  images  have  been  brought 
in,  which  have  given  the  language  an  unction  and  power 
unknown  to  it  before. 

While  we  were  in  the  East,  several  offers  were  made  io 
regard  to  taking  one  of  our  children.  These  offers  came 
from  the  best  families,  where  a  child  would  have  enjoyed 
all  the  comforts  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life,  more 
than  could  be  had  in  our  Indian  home.  It  was  a  ques- 
tion that  had  often  claimed  our  thought,  and  sometimes 
had  been  very  favorably  considered,  but  when  the  oppor- 
tunity came,  we  decided  to  keep  our  children  with  us  for 
the  present.  The  circumstances  of  our  home  life  had 
changed  somewhat;  home  education  could  be  carried  on 
to  better  advantage,  and  with  less  drawbacks  than  in  the 
first  years  of  our  missionary  life. 

And  so  in  the  month  of  June,  when  the  Philadelphia 
market  was  red  with  its  best  strawberries,  we  started 
westward,  bringing  the  two  children  with  us.  It  had  been 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          123 

a  profitable  year  to  Isabella.  The  mother  and  children 
had  spent  a  couple  of  the  last  months  with  relatives  and 
friends  in  Brooklyn ;  and  now  we  made  a  little  stop  in  the 
Quaker  City,  and  visited  Gerard  College,  Fairmount,  and 
other  places  of  interest.  It  was  September,  when  we  had 
gathered  all  our  six  children  together,  and  were  making 
the  trip  across  the  prairie  to  Lac-qui-parle.  This  time  we 
had  with  us  the  Misses  LUCY  and  MARY  SPOONER,  of  Ky. — 
since,  Mrs.  Drake  and  Mrs.  Worcester.  They  came  out 
to  spend  two  years  in  the  mission.  Miss  Lucy's  teaching 
in  music,  vocal  and  instrumental,  as  well  as  other  branches, 
was  of  singular  advantage  to  our  own  children,  as  well  as 
to  the  Indians. 

Miss  Mary  went  into  the  family  of  Mr.  Adams,  who  had 
gathered  a  little  boarding-school  of  Dakota  children.  This 
might  be  called  the  first  effort  in  this  line  made  among 
the  Dakotas.  Before  our  return,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petti  John 
had  taken  the  pre-emption  fever,  and  had  left  the  mission 
and  gone  to  the  Traverse  and  made  a  claim.  Mrs.  Petti- 
john  had  been  connected  with  the  mission  work  since  1839, 
and  Mr.  P.  for  a  shorter  period.  Both  had  been  conscien- 
tious workers  and  had  done  good  service.  They  now 
wanted  to  make  a  home  for  their  growing  family.  Mr. 
Huggins  also,  about  the  same  time,  left  the  mission  work 
and  made  a  home  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Mr.  Potter 
had  left  the  Dakota  field  after  only  a  year's  trial,  regard- 
ing it  as  a  very  difficult  one,  as  compared  with  the  one  he 
had  left  in  the  Indian  Territory  South.  Now,  in  the 
years  1852  and  1853,  our  numbers  diminished  very  rapidly. 
The  Indians  were  to  be  removed,  according  to  the  stipula- 
tions of  their  treaties,  to  their  reserve  on  the  Upper  Min- 
nesota. Both  the  brothers  Pond  elected  to  stay  where 
they  were  and  minister  to  the  white  people  who  were 


MART    AND   I. 

rapidly  settling  up  the  country.  Both  were  successful  in 
organizing  churches,  one  at  Shakopee  and  the  other  at 
Bloomington.  Both  still  live,  but  have  retired  from  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  and  are  waiting  for  the  translation 
to  the  upper  world.* 

Likewise,  for  the  same  reasons,  Mr.  John  F.  Aiton 
retired  from  the  service  of  the  Board,  about  the  same  time, 
and  Mr.  Hancock  also.  Dr.  Williamson  elected  to  con- 
tinue his  work  among  the  Dakotas,  and  so  made  arrange- 
ments, in  advance  of  the  removal  of  the  Indians,  to  open 
a  new  station  near  the  Yellow  Medicine,  which  he  called 
Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze — the  Dakota  name  for  that  stream. 

During  the  summer  of  1852,  Dr.  Williamson  had  erected 
his  dwelling  house  at  this  new  place,  but  it  was  still  in 
quite  an  unfinished  state,  when  he  removed  his  family  up 
in  the  beginning  of  the  cold  weather.  That  fall  the  snows 
came  early,  and  found  the  family  without  any  sufficient 
supplies  for  the  winter.  In  December,  the  storms  were 
incessant,  and  the  snow  became  very  deep,  at  which  time 
the  doctor's  men  were  toiling  against  odds,  endeavoring 
to  bring  up  provisions  to  the  family  on  the  Yellow  Medi- 
cine. But  they  could  not  succeed  When  they  were  yet 
more  than  forty  miles  away,  their  teams  gave  out  and 
were  buried  in  the  snow.  The  men,  both  frozen  badly, 
Mr.  Andrew  Hunter  much  maimed,  barely  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  mission.  How  the  family  were  to  winter 
through  was  not  apparent,  but  the  Lord  provided.  Un- 
expectedly, the  Indians  found  fish  in  the  river,  and  Mr. 


*  Since  this  chapter  was  written,  Rev.  Gr.  H.  Pond,  the  younger 
of  the  brothers,  has  gone  to  see  the  King  in  his  Beauty,  in  the 
Land  that  is  not  very  far  off.  He  departed  on  the  20ih  of  Jan- 
uary 1878,  leaving  a  family  of  fifty— twenty-  two  were  grandchil- 
dren— and  all,  except  the  sixteen  youngest,  professing  Christians. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  125 

Adams,  with  a  young  man,  worked  his  way  down  from 
Lac-qui-parle,  and  carried  them  what  provisions  they  could 
on  a  hand-sled.  Thus  they  weathered  the  terrible  winter. 
Thus  they  commenced  mission  work  at  this  new  place, 
where  they  continued  for  ten  years,  until  the  outbreak. 

At  Lac-qui-parle  we  were  doing  effective  Christian 
work.  Our  own  family  were  all  together.  The  hard 
winter  entailed  a  good  deal  of  hard  work.  The  snow 
would  sift  through  our  roofs  and  pack  into  the  upper  part 
of  our  houses,  until,  as  we  sometimes  said,  there  was 
more  inside  than  outside.  Every  day,  also,  our  hay-stacks 
were  covered  up  with  snow,  so  as  to  make  the  labor  of 
feeding  the  cattle  very  great.  But  still  these  were  years 
of  enjoyment  and  profit.  A  company  of  Dakota  young 
men  were  growing  up  and  preparing  for  work  in  the 
future. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Adams  received  an  invitation  to 
take  charge  of  the  church  of  white  people  at  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  which  was  the  continuation  of  the  mission  church 
organized  there.  This  invitation  he  accepted,  and  closed 
his  connection  with  the  special  work  for  the  Dakotas.  It 
will  occur  to  every  reader  of  these  memoirs  to  note  how 
many  men  the  foreign  mission  work  among  the  Dakotas 
gave  to  the  home  mission  work  among  the  white  people 
of  Minnesota.  The  shepherds  were  here  in  advance  of 
their  flocks.  The  work  is  one — the  world  for  Christ. 

The  Dgakota  mission  was  now  reduced  to  its  lowest 
terms;  only  Dr.  Williamson's  family  and  my  own  remained. 
If  the  Lord  had  not  given  us  the  victory  when  we  were 
many,  would  He  do  it  when  we  were  few?  We  were 
sure  He  could  do  it.  While  it  is  true  that  the  Lord  is 
often  on  the  side  of  the  strong  battalions,  it  is  not  always 
so.  And  spiritual  forces  are  not  measured  by  the  same 


126  MARY    AND    I. 

rules  that  measure  material  forces.  So  we  toiled  on  with 
good  hope,  and  when  a  year  later,  we  were  called  to  leave 
Lac-qui-parle,  and  commence  our  station  elsewhere,  Sec- 
retary Treat  proposed  that  we  call  it  New  Hope. 

In  carrying  on  missionary  labor  among  a  heathen  peo- 
ple, the  question,  What  shall  be  the  relation  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  mission  family  to  the  people?  is  often  a  difficult 
and  perplexing  one.  The  springs  of  the  home  life  must 
be  kept,  as  far  as  possible,  from  being  contaminated. 
And  yet  the  daily  intercourse  with  those  of  impure  thoughts 
and  impure  words  is  contaminating.  Shall  we  make  our 
family  a  garden  inclosed?  If  so,  the  children  when 
small  must  not  learn  the  language  of  the  natives.  Mary 
and  I  adopted  this  principle  and  carried  it  out  very  suc- 
cessfully. Up  to  the  time  of  our  return  in  1852,  our 
children  had  hardly  learned  any  Dakota.  Now  our  boy 
Alfred  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  had  assigned  to  him 
duties  which  made  it  necessary  that  he  should  under- 
stand the  Indians  somewhat,  and  make  himself  under- 
tood  by  them.  So  he  commenced  to  learn  the  language. 
John  P.  Williamson  had  commenced  to  talk  it  much 
earlier.  Doubtless,  the  advantage  in  speaking  a  lan- 
guage is  with  those  who  learn  in  their  very  childhood, 
other  things  being  equal.  The  reason  for  the  exclusion 
had  partly  passed  by,  and  the  taking  of  Dakota  children 
into  our  family,  and  being  closely  connected  with  a  board- 
ing-school of  Dakota  children,  made  it  impossible,  if  it 
had  been  desirable,  longer  to  keep  up  the  bars. 

By  and  by  came  along  the  THIRD  of  March,  1854. 
The  spring  had  opened  early,  the  ground  was  bare  of 
snow,  and  every  thing  was  dry.  Our  cellars  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  freezing,  and  to  protect  our  potatoes  and 
other  vegetables  we  had  been  in  the  habit  of  stuffing 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.  127 

hay  under  the  floor  all  around,  in  the  fall.  This  hay  had 
not  yet  been  removed,  and  was  very  dry.  The  cellar 
was  dark,  and  a  lighted  candle  was  needed  by  those  who 
went  down  for  any  purpose.  The  mother  was  prepar- 
ing for  the  family  dinner,  and  so  had  sent  down  the 
little  boys  Thomas  and  Henry,  in  their  seventh  and  fifth 
years  respectively,  to  bring  her  up  potatoes.  Through 
carelessness,  and  without  thought,  perhaps,  they  held 
the  lighted  candle  too  near  the  dried  hay.  It  took  fire 
immediately,  and  in  a  few  seconds  of  time  so  filled 
the  cellar  with  smoke,  that  the  boys  with  some  diffi- 
culty made  their  escape. 

There  was  no  supply  of  water  nearer  than  the  river  and 
spring  run,  down  quite  a  hill.  But  every  boy  and  girl 
were  soon  carrying  water.  The  difficulty  was  to  reach 
the  fire  with  the  water.  The  floor  was  flooded  and  a 
hole  was  cut  through,  but  the  fire  had  taken  such  a 
hold  of  the  whole  interior,  that  our  little  pails  full  of 
water  were  laughed  at  by  the  flames.  The  effort  was 
now  made  to  save  something  from  the  burning  house. 
Some  articles  were  carried  into  the  other  house  which 
stood  near  by.  But  that  also  took  fire,  and  both  houses 
were  soon  consumed,  with  almost  all  they  had  contained. 
A  few  books  were  saved,  and  the  chief  part  of  Miss 
Spooner's  wardrobe  and  bedding,  her  room  being  on 
the  corner  away  from  where  the  fire  commenced.  Be- 
fore noon  the  fire-fiend  had  done  his  work,  and  our 
mission  houses  were  a  mass  of  coals  and  ashes.  Very 
little  had  been  saved.  The  potatoes  in  the  cellars  were 
much  burned  and  cooked,  but  underneath,  a  portion  of 
them  were  found  to  be  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 

The  adobe  church,  that  stood  partly  under  the  hill, 
was  the  only  building  that  escaped.  Thither  we  removed 


128  MARY   AND    I. 

what  few  things  we  had  saved,  and  our  Dakota  neigh- 
bors were  very  kind,  bringing  us  what  they  could;  while 
Mr.  Martin  McLeod,  the  trader,  sent  us  blankets  and 
other  things  to  meet  the  present  necessity,  partly  as  a 
gift,  and  partly  to  be  paid  for.  In  a  few  days  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson came  up  from  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze  with  further 
supplies.  And  all  along  through  the  spring  and  summer, 
as  our  friends  in  the  East  heard  of  our  loss,  the  boxes  and 
barrels  were  sent  for  our  relief.  It  did  us  good  to  know 
that  we  had  so  many  true-hearted  friends. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  129 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1854-1856. — Simon  Anawangmane. — Rebuilding  after  the  Fire. 
— Visit  of  Secretary  Treat. — Change  of  Plan. — Hazelwood 
Station. — Circular  Saw-Mill. — Mission  Buildings. — Chapel. 
— Civilized  Community. — Making  Citizens. — Boarding 
School. — Educating  our  own  Children.— Financial  Difficul- 
ties.—The  Lord  Provides.— A  Great  Affliction.— Smith  Bur- 
gess Williamson. — "Aunt  Jane." — Bunyan's  Pilgrim  in 
Dakota. 

When,  after  the  fire,  we  were  somewhat  comfortably 
domiciled  in  the  adobe  church,  the  time  came  for  our 
regular -communion.  The  disaster  had  made  all  our 
hearts  tender,  and  the  opportunity  for  helpfulness  on  the 
part  of  our  native  church  members,  which  had  been 
improved  by  many  of  them,  had  drawn  us  toward 
them.  It  was  an  appropriate  time  to  remember  what 
Christ  had  done  for  us.  And  just  then  we  were  made 
very  glad  by  the  return  of  Simon  Anawangmane  from 
his  long  wanderings.  Some  years  before,  he  had  bro- 
ken away  from  strong  drink,  but  he  was  so  overcome 
with  remorse  and  shame,  that  he  could  not  get  up  cour- 
age enough  to  come  back,  and  take  again  upon  him  the 
oath  of  fealty  to  the  wounded  Lord.  He  edged  his  way 
back.  He  had  often  come  and  sat  on  the  door-step,  not 
daring  to  venture  in.  Then  he  came  in  and  sat  down  in 
a  corner.  By  and  by  he  took  more  courage.  He  had 
talked  with  Dr.  Williamson  at  Yellow  Medicine,  who 


130  MARY    AND    I. 

gave  him  a  letter,  saying,  "  I  think  Simon  should  now 
be  restored  to  the  Church."  We  did  reinstate  him. 
And  for  more  than  a  score  of  years  since  his  restoration, 
Simon  has  lived,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  a  true  Christian 
life.  For  nearly  all  that  time  he  has  been  a  ruling  elder 
in  the  church,  and  for  ten  years  past  a  licensed  exhorter. 

We  decided  almost  immediately  to  rebuild  our  burnt 
houses,  and  as  soon  as  we  had  taken  care  of  the  pota- 
toes in  the  cellars,  that  were  not  too  much  injured,  we 
set  about  getting  out  timbers.  It  was  a  slow  process  to 
saw  boards  and  timbers  with  the  whip-saw,  but  up  to 
this  time  this  had  been  our  only  way  of  making  mate- 
rial for  building.  This  work  had  been  pushed  on  so  well 
that,  when,  by  the  first  of  June,  Secretary  S.  B.  Treat, 
of  the  mission  house  in  Boston,  made  us  a  visit,  we  had 
gotten  out  material  for  the  frame  of  our  house.  His 
visit,  at  this  time,  was  exceedingly  gratifying  and  help- 
ful to  us  all.  It  was  good  to  counsel  with  such  a  saga- 
cious, true,  thoughtful,  Christian  counsellor  as  Mr.  Treat. 

The  whole  line  of  mission  work  was  carefully  reviewed 
The  result  was,  that  we  gave  up  our  plan  of  rebuilding  at 
Lac-qui-parle  and  sought  a  new  place.  The  reasons  for 
this  were ;  First,  We  had  from  the  beginning  been  widely 
separated  in  our  work,  spreading  out  our  labors  and 
attempting  to  cultivate  as  much  of  the  field  as  possible. 
This  had  obviously  had  its  disadvantages.  We  were  too 
far  apart  to  cheer  and  help  each  other.  Now,  when  we 
were  reduced  to  two  families,  Mr.  Treat  advised  concen- 
trating our  forces.  That  was  in  accordance  with  our  own 
inclinations.  And,  Secondly,  The  Yellow  Medicine  had 
been  made  the  head  quarters  of  the  Indian  Agency  for 
the  four  thousand  upper  Indians.  The  drift  was  down 
toward  that  point.  It  was  found  that  we  could  take  with 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  131 

us  almost  all  the  Christian  part  of  our  community.  The 
idea  was  to  commence  a  settlement  of  the  civilized  and 
Christianized  Dakotas,  at  some  point  within  convenient 
distance  from  the  Agency,  to  receive  the  help  which  the 
government  had  by  treaty  pledged  itself  to  give.  And 
so  we  got  on  our  horses  and  rode  down  to  Dr.  William- 
son's, twenty-five  or  thirty  miles;  and  Mr.  Treat  and  Dr. 
Williamson,  and  Miss  Spooner,  and  Mary  and  I,  rode 
over  the  country  above  Pay-zhe-hoote-ze,  which  was 
selected  as  the  site  for  the  new  station,  afterward  called 
Hazelwood.  At  Dr.  Williamson's,  we  had  a  memorable 
meeting,  at  which  Mr.  Treat  told  our  Dakota  church 
members  of  a  visit  he  had  made  to  the  Choctaws,  and 
Cherokees.  We  also  had  consultations  on  various  mat- 
ters; among  which  was  that  of  getting  out  a  new  Dakota 
hymn-book,  which  should  contain  the  music  as  well  as 
the  hymns.  A  new  departure  was  thus  inaugurated  in 
our  mission  work,  and  in  after  years,  TIME  was  often 
counted  from  this  visit  of  Secretary  Treat. 

The  building  materials  we  had  prepared  at  Lac-qui- 
parle  were  partly  hauled  by  land,  and  partly  floated  down 
the  river;  and  by  the  month  of  September,  our  house 
was  so  far  finished  that  we  removed  the  family  down. 
Also  we  had  erected  a  small  frame  which  served  for  va- 
rious purposes,  as  school-room  and  dwelling.  But  while 
the  work  was  progressing,  Mary  had  quite  a  sudden  and 
severe  attack  of  sickness.  It  was  nearly  sundown  when 
the  messenger  arrived,  and  Dr.  Williamson  and  I  had  a 
night  ride  over  the  prairie.  The  shadows  looked  weird 
and  ghostly — perhaps  tinged  by  the  mental  state  ,of  the 
beholder.  At  midnight  we  reached  the  sufferer,  who  was, 
by  wise,  doctoring  and  skillful  nursing  restored  in  a  week. 
"-  The  Dakotas  entered  at  once  into  the  idea  of  the  new 


132  MAKY    AND    I. 

settlement,  and  no  sooner  had  we  selected  the  spot  for 
our  building  and  set  a  breaking-plow  to  work  in  making 
a  mission  field,  than  they  were  at  work  in  the  same  line. 
The  desirable  places  were  soon  selected  and  log  cabins 
went  up,  the  most  of  which  were  replaced  by  frame  build- 
ings or  brick  within  a  year  or  two.  The  frames  were  put 
up  by  themselves,  with  the  assistance  we  could  give  them  ; 
— the  brick  houses  were  built  by  the  government. 

We  had  been  long  enough  schooling  ourselves  in  the 
use  of  the  whip-saw.  That  was  one  of  the  processes  of 
labor  that,  years  before,  I  had  determined  not  to  learn.  I 
had  acquired  some  skill  in  the  use  of  the  broad  ax,  and 
rather  liked  it.  I  had  applied  my  knowledge  of  mathe- 
matics in  various  ways  to  the  work  of  framing  houses, 
and  it  became  a  pleasure.  But  I  thought  I  should  avoid 
the  whip-saw.  The  time  however  came  when  I  needed 
a  sawyer  greatly,  and  could  obtain  none,  and  so  took  hold 
myself. 

But  now  we  decided  that  it  would  be  more  economical 
to  make  boards  by  horse  and  ox  power  than  by  man- 
power alone;  and  so  the  committee  at  Boston  authorized 
the  purchase  of  a  small  circular  saw-mill.  This  proved 
quite  a  help  in  our  civilized  community.  It  enabled  us 
to  put  up,  in  the  next  season,  a  house  for  a  small  board- 
ing-school, and  also  a  neat  church  building.  This  latter 
was  erected  and  finished  at  a  cost  of  about  $700,  only 
$200  of  which  was  mission  funds.  At  this  time  the  In- 
dians were  receiving  money  annuities.  It  was  paid  them 
in  gold,  about  $10  for  each  individual.  So  that  the  men 
received  from  thirty  to  fifty  dollars.  At  a  propitious 
time  I  made  a  tea-party,  which  was  attended  by  our  civ- 
ilized men  largely,  and  the  result  was,  that  with  some 
assistance  from  white  people,  they  were  able  to  raise 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          133 

about  five  hundred  dollars.  It  was  a  success  beyond  my 
most  sanguine  expectations. 

We  had  now  such  a  respectable  community  of  young 
men,  who  had  cut  off  their  hair  and  exchanged  the  dress 
of  the  Dakotas  for  that  of  the  white  man,  and  whose 
wants  now  were  very  different  from  the  annuity  Dakotas 
generally,  that  we  took  measures  to  organize  them  into 
a  separate  band,  which  we  called  the  Hazelwood  Repub- 
lic. They  elected  their  President  for  two  years,  and  other 
needed  officers,  and  were  without  any  difficulty  recog- 
nized by  the  agent  as  a  separate  band.  A  number  of 
these  men  were  half  breeds,  who  were,  by  the  organic 
law  of  Minnesota,  citizens.  The  constitution  of  the  State 
provided  that  Indians  also  might  become  citizens  by  satis- 
fying a  court  of  their  progress  in  civilization. 

A  few  years  after  the  organization  of  this  civilized 
community,  I  took  eight  or  ten  of  the  men  to  meet  the 
court  at  Maikato,  but  the  court  deciding  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  English  was  necessary  to  comply  with  the  laws 
of  the  State,  only  one  of  my  men  was  passed  into  citizen- 
ship. 

A  part  of  the  plan  of  our  new  community  was  a  mission 
boarding-school.  Almost  from  the  beginning  we  had 
been  making  trial  of  educating  Dakota  children  in  our 
own  families.  Mary  had  a  little  girl  given  her  the  first 
fall  after  we  came  to  Lac-qui-parle;  she  was  the  daughter 
of  Eagle  Help,  my  Bible  reader;  but  after  she  had  washed 
and  dressed  her  up,  she  staid  only  a  month,  and  then  ran 
away.  The  Mr.  Ponds  raised  one  or  two  in  their  families. 
Dr.  Williamson  had  several  Dakota  children  when  at 
Kaposia,  and  afterward  at  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze.  Mr.  Adams 
had  at  one  time  a  boarding-school  of  a  half  dozen,  at 


134:  MARY    AND    I. 

Lac-qui-parle,  and  we  had  two  or  three  in  our  family. 
Now  the  work  was  to  be  attempted  on  a  larger  scale. 

The  Hazelwood  boarding-school  was  for  awhile  cared 
for  by  Miss  Ruth  Pettijohn,  and  afterward  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  H.  D.  Cunningham.  Counting  those  in  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson's family  and  our  own,  the  boarding  scholars 
amounted  to  twenty.  This  was  the  extent  of  our  ambi- 
tion in  that  line  at  that  time.  A  large  boarding-school 
demands  a  large  outlay  for  buildings,  as  well  as  for  its 
continual  support.  The  necessities  of  our  mission  work 
did  not  then  demand  the  outlay,  nor  could  it  have  been 
easily  obtained  from  the  funds  of  the  Board.  Connected 
with  this  school,  as  teachers,  were  Mrs.  Annie  B.  Ackley, 
and  Miss  Eliza  Huggins  and  Isabella  B.  Riggs. 

We  had  reached  the  time  in  1854,  when  it  became  nec- 
essary to  enter  upon  some  plan  to  educate  our  children, 
beyond  what  we  could  give  them  in  our  Indian  home. 
Three  y.iars  b3fore  this,  Alfred  had^been  at  school  in  Illi- 
nois, but  that  was  only  a  temporary  arrangement;  now 
he  was  seventeen  years  old  and  prepared  to  enter  college. 
Mary  and  I  often  discussed  the  question  of  ways  and 
means.  It  was  our  desire  to  give  our  children  as  good 
an  education  as  we  possessed  ourselves — at  least  to  give 
them  a  chance  of  obtaining  such  an  education.  We  did 
not  feel  that  our  position  as  missionaries  should  make 
this  impossible,  and  yet  how  it  was  to  be  accomplished 
we  could  not  see.  We  had  neither  of  us  any  patrimony. 
In  this  respect  we  were  on  an  equality.  She  received 
$100  from  her  father's  estate,  and  I  but  a  little  more  than 
that,  and  we  did  not  know  of  any  rich  friends  to  whom  we 
could  apply  for  aid.  Our  salary  had  been  small  from  the 
beginning.  We  entered  the  mission  work  at  a  time  when 
the  Board  was  cutting  down  everywhere.  So  that  we 


FORTY  YEAKS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         135 

started  on  a  salary  or  allowance  of  about  $250,  and  for 
the  first  quarter  of  a  century  it  did  not  materially  differ 
from  the  basis  of  a  Methodist  circuit  rider  in  the  West,  of 
olden  times;  that  is,  $100  apiece,  and  $50  for  each  child. 
At  this  time  when  our  family  numbered  eight,  we  had 
an  allowance  of  $500.  We  were  both  close  calculators, 
and  we  never  ran  in  debt.  We  could  live  comfortably 
with  our  children  at  home,  each  doing  something  to  carry 
the  burdens  of  life.  But  how  could  we  support  one  or 
more  away  at  school?  A  third  of  the  whole  family  allow- 
ance would  not  suffice  to  pay  the  expenses  of  one,  at  the 
most  economical  of  our  colleges  or  schools.  To  begin 
the  work  required  faith.  We  determined  to  begin,  by 
sending  Alfred  to  Knox  College,  at  Galesburg,  Illinois. 
From  year  to  year  we  were  able  to  keep  him  there  until 
he  finished  the  course.  Two  years  after  sending  Alfred, 
we  sent  Isabella  to  the  Western  Female  Seminary,  at  Ox- 
ford, Ohio.  This,  however,  we  were  enabled  to  do  by  the 
help  which  Mrs.  Blaisdell  and  other  Christian  friends  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  of  Cincinnati,  gave. 
*  "With  two  away  at  the  same  time,  "the  barrel  of  meal 
did  not  waste  nor  the  cruse  of  oil  fail."  In  various  ways 
the  Lord  helped  us.  One  year  our  garden  produced  a 
large  surplus  of  excellent  potatoes,  which  the  Indian 
agent  bought  at  a  very  remunerative  price.  From  year 
to  year  our  faith  was  strengthened.  "  Jehovah  Jireh  " 
became  our  motto.  He  stood  by  us  and  helped  us  in  the 
work  of  education  all  through  the  twenty-three  years  that 
have  followed,  until  the  last  of  Mary's  eight  children  has 
finished  at  the  Beloit  high-school.  We  have  redeemed 
our  promise  and  pledge  made  to  each  other.  We  have 
given,  by  the  Lord's  help,  each  and  all  of  our  children 


136  MA.RY    AND    I. 

a  chance  to  become  as  good,  or  better  scholars  than  their 
father  and  mother  were. 

The  third  of  March  was  associated  in  our  minds  with 
calamity,  fromthe  burning  of  our  houses  at  Lac-qui-parle. 
But  two  years  later,  or  in  the  spring  of  1856,  the  third  of 
March  brought  a  great  shadow  over  Dr.  Williamson's 
household.  Smith  Burgess  Williamson  was  just  coming 
up  to  young  manhood.  He  was  large  of  his  age,  a  very 
manly  boy.  On  this  third  of  March  he  was  engaged  in 
hauling  up  fire-wood  with  an  ox  team.  He  probably 
attempted  to  get  on  his  loaded  sled  while  the  oxen  were 
in  motion,  and  missing  his  step,  fell  under  the  runner. 
He  was  dragged  home  a  distance  of  some  rods,  and  his 
young  life  was  entirely  crushed  out.  We  were  immedi- 
ately summoned  over  from  Hazelwood.  Human  sympathy 
could  go  but  a  little  way  toward  reaching  the  bottom  of 
such  a  trouble.  It  was  like  other  sorrows  that  had  come 
upon  us,  and  we  were  prepared  to  sit  down  in  silence 
with  our  afflicted  friends,  and  help  them  think  out,  "It 
is  the  Lord."  "  I  was  dumb  because  thou  didst  it."  The 
family  had  been  already  schooled  in  affliction,  and  this 
helped  to  prepare  them  better  for  the  Master's  work. 

During  these  passing  years,  the  educational  work  among 
the  Dakotas  was  progressing  beyond  what  it  had  done 
previously.  Our  boarding-school  at  Hazelwood,  in  charge 
of  H.  D.  Cunningham,  was  full  and  doing  good  service. 
Oar  civilized  and  Christian  community  had  come  to  de- 
sire and  appreciate  somewhat  the  education  of  their 
children.  At  Dr.  Williamson's,  also,  several  were  taken 
into  the  family,  and  the  day-school  prospered.  Miss  Jane 
S.  Williamson,  a  maiden  sister  of  the  doctor,  had  come 
to  the  land  of  the  Dakotas  when  Mary  and  I  returned  in 
1843.  From  the  association  and  connection  of  her  father's 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          137 

family  with  slavery  in  South  Carolina,  she  had  grown  up 
with  a  great  interest  in  the  colored  people.  She  had 
taught  colored  schools  in  Ohio,  when  it  was  very  unpop- 
ular, even  in  a  free  state,  to  educate  the  blacks.  When 
she  came  to  the  Dakotas,  her  enthusiasam  in  the  work 
of  lifting  up  the  colored  race  was  at  once  transferred  to 
th®  red  men,  and  she  became  an  indefatigable  worker  in 
their  education. 

She  often  carried  cakes  and  nuts  in  her  pocket,  and  had 
something  to  give  to  this  and  that  one,  to  draw  them  to 
her  school.  The  present  race  of  Dakotas  remember 
AUNT  JANE,  as  we  called  her,  or  Dowan  Dootawin,  Red 
Song  Woman,  as  they  called  her,  with  tender  interest, 
and  many  of  them  owe  more  to  her  than  they  can  under- 
stand. 

At  this  time,  a  translation  of  the  first  part  of  John 
Banyan's  Pilgrim,  which  I  had  prepared,  was  printed  by 
the  American  Tract  Society,  and  at  once  became  a  popu- 
lar and  profitable  reading  book  for  the  Dakotas. 


138  MARY    AND    I. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1857-1862.— Spirit  Lake.— Massacres  by  Inkpadoota.— The  Cap- 
tives.— Delivery  of  Mrs.  Marble  and  Miss  Gardner.— Excite- 
ment.— Inkpadoota's  Son  Killed. — U.  S.  Soldiers. — Maj. 
Sherman. — Indian  Councils. — Great  Scare. — Going  Away.— 
Indians  Sent  .after  Scarlet  End.— Quiet  Restored.— Children 
at  School. — Quarter-Century  Meeting. — John  P.  Williamson 
at  Red  Wood. — Dedication  of  Chapel. 

By  the  northern  line  of  Iowa,  where  the  head  waters 
of  the  Des  Moines  come  out  of  Minnesota,  is  a  lake,  or 
group  of  lakes,  called  "  Minne  Wakan,"  Mysterious 
Water,  or,  as  the  name  goes,  SPIRIT  LAKE.  Sometime 
in  1855,  this  beautiful  spot  of  earth  was  found  and  occu- 
pied by  seven  or  eight  white  families,  far  in  advance  of 
other  white  settlements.  In  the  spring  of  1857,  there 
were,  in  this  neighborhood  and  at  Springfield,  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  above,  on  the  Des  Moines,  and  in  Minnesota, 
nearly  fifty  white  persons.  During  the  latter  part  of  that 
winter  the  snows  in  Western  Iowa  and  Minnesota  were 
very  deep,  so  that  traveling  on  the  prairies  was  attended 
with  great  difficulty. 

It  appears  that  during  the  winter,  a  few  families  of 
annuity  Sioux,  belonging  to  the  somewhat  roving  band 
of  Leaf  Shooters,  had,  according  to  their  habit,  made  a 
hunting  expedition  down  into  Iowa,  on  the  Little  Sioux. 
Inkpadoota,  or  Scarlet  End,  and  his  sons  were  the  princi- 
pal men.  The  deep  snows  made  game  scarce  and  hunt- 


FOETY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          139 

ing  difficult,  so  that  when,  in  the  month  of  March,  this 
party  of  Dakotas  came  into  the  Spirit  Lake  settlement, 
they  were  in  a  bad  humor  from  hunger,  and  attempted  at 
once  to  levy  blackmail  upon  the  inhabitants.  Their 
wishes  not  being  readily  complied  with,  the  Indians  pro- 
ceeded to  help  themselves,  which  at  once  brought  on  a 
conflict  with  the  white  people,  and  the  result  was  that  the 
Indians  massacred  almost  the  entire  settlement,  killing 
about  forty  persons  and  taking  four  women  captive. 

Some  one  carried  the  news  to  Fort  Ridgely,  and  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers  was  sent  out  to  that  part  of  the  country, 
but  with  small  prospect  of  finding  and  punishing  the  In- 
dians. The  deep  snows  prevented  rapid  marching,  and 
the  party  of  Scarlet  End,  who  were  still  in  the  Spirit  Lake 
country,  managed  to  see  the  white  soldiers,  albeit  the 
soldiers  could  not  discover  them. 

Soon  after  this  event,  we,  at  the  Yellow  Medicine,  heard 
of  it  by  a  courier  who  came  up  the  Minnesota.  It  proved 
to  be  quite  as  bad  as  represented.  But  nothing  could 
be  done  at  that  season  of  the  year,  either  to  obtain  the 
captives  or  punish  the  perpetrators.  So  the  spring 
passed.  When  the  snows  had  melted  away,  and  the 
month  of  May  had  come,  there  came  a  messenger  from 
Lac-qui-parle  to  Dr.  Williamson  and  myself,  saying  that 
Sounding  Heavens  and  Grey  Foot,  two  sons  of  our 
f.iend  Spirit  Walker,  had  brought  in  one  of  the  captive 
women  taken  by  Scarlet  End's  party,  and  asking  us  to 
come  up  and  get  her  that  she  might  be  restored  to  her 
friends. 

We  lost  no  time  in  going  up  to  Lac-qui-parle.  At  the 
trader's  establishment,  then  in  the  keeping  of  Weeyooha, 
the  father  of  Nawangmane  win,  who  was  the  wife  of 
Sounding  Heavens,  we  found  MRS.  MARBLE,  rather  a 


140  MARY   AND    I. 

small  but  good-looking  white  woman,  apparently  not 
more  than  twenty-five  years  old.  She  was  busily  engaged 
•with  the  aforesaid  Mrs.  Sounding  Heavens,  in  making  a 
calico  dress  for  herself.  When  I  spoke  to  her  in  English, 
she  was  at  first  quite  reserved.  I  asked  if  she  wanted  to 
return  to  her  friends.  She  replied,  "  I  am  among  my 
friends." 

She  had  indeed  found  friends  in  the  two  young  men 
who  had  purchased  her  from  her  captors.  They  took  her 
to  their  mother's  tent,  who  had,  many  years  before,  be- 
come a  member  of  the  Lac-qui-parle  church,  and  been 
baptized  with  the  Christian  name  of  RebekaTi.  They 
clothed  her  up  in  the  best  style  of  Dakota  women.  They 
gave  her  the  best  they  had  to  eat.  They  brought  her  to 
their  planting  place,  and  furnished  her  with  materials 
with  which  to  dress  again  like  a  white  woman.  It  was  no 
wonder  she  said,  "  I  am  among  my  friends."  But  after 
talking  awhile,  she  concluded  it  would  be  best  for  her  to 
find  her  white  friends.  She  did  not  before  understand 
that  these  Dakota  young  men  had  bought  her,  and  care- 
fully brought  her  in,  with  the  hope  of  being  properly 
rewarded.  They  were  not  prepared  to  keep  her  as  a  white 
woman,  and  really,  with  her  six  or  seven  weeks'  experi- 
ence as  an  Indian,  she  would  hardly  care  to  choose  that 
kind  of  life. 

Mrs.  Marble's  husband  had  been  killed  with  those  who 
were  slain  at  Spirit  Lake.  Her  story  was,  that  four  white 
women  were  reserved  as  captives.  They  were  made  to 
carry  burdens  and  walk  through  the  melting  snow  and 
water.  When  they  came  to  the  Big  Sioux,  it  was  very 
full.  The  Indians  cut  down  a  tree,  and  the  white  women 
were  expected  to  walk  across  on  that.  One  of  the  women 
fell  off,  and  her  captor  shot  her  in  the  water.  Her  fellow 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH   THE    SIOUX.  14:1 

captives  thought  she  was  better  off  dead  than  alive.  When 
Mrs.  Marble  was  rescued  from  her  captors,  two  others  still 
lived,  Mrs.  Nobles  and  Miss  Abbie  Gardner.  The  In- 
dians were  then  west  of  the  Big  Sioux,  in  the  valley  of 
the  James  or  Dakota  River. 

We  took  Mrs.  Marble  down,  accompanied  by  Sounding 
Heavens,  Grey  Foot  and  their  father,  ~[VaJcanmane.  She 
remained  a  few  days  at  our  mission  home  at  Hazelwood? 
and  in  the  mean  time  Maj.  Flandreau,  who  was  then  In- 
dian agent,  paid  the  young  men  $500  in  gold,  and  gave 
them  a  promissory  note  for  the  like  amount.  This  was  a 
very  creditable  reward. 

But  what  was  most  important  to  be  done  just  then,  was 
to  rescue  the  other  two  women,  if  possible.  We  had  Da- 
kota men  whom  we  could  trust  on  such  a  mission  better 
than  we  could  trust  ourselves.  There  was  PAUL  MAZA- 
KOOTAMANE,  the  president  of  the  Hazelwood  Republic. 
White  people  said  he  was  lazy.  There  was  truth  in  that. 
He  did  not  like  to  work.  But  he  was  a  real  diplomatist. 
He  could  talk  well,  and  he  was  skilled  in  managing  In- 
dians. For  such  a  work  there  was  no  better  man  than  he. 
Then  there  was  JOHN  OTHERDAY,  the  white  man's  friend. 
He  could  not  talk  like  Paul;  but  he  had  rare  executive 
ability,  and  he  was  a  fearless  fellow.  There  was  no  better 
second  man  than  he.  For  the  third  man  we  secured  Mr. 
Grass.  These  three  we  selected,  and  the  agent  sent  them  to 
treat  for  Miss  Gardner  and  Mrs.  Nobles.  They  took  with 
them  an  extra  horse  and  a  lot  of  goods.  In  about  three 
weeks  they  returned,  but  only  brought  Miss  Gardner. 
Mrs.  Nobles  had  been  killed  before  they  reached  Scarlet 
End's  camp. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  Spirit  Lake  trouble,  we  lived 
in  a  state  of  excitement  all  the  summer.  At  one  time 


142  MARY    AND    I. 

the  report  came  that  Inkpadoota's  sons,  one  or  more  of 
them,  had  ventured  into  the  Yellow  Medicine  settlement. 
News  was  at  once  taken  to  Agent  Flandreau,  who  came 
up  with  a  squad  of  soldiers  from  Fort  Ridgely,  and,  with 
the  help  of  John  Otherday  and  Enos  Good  Hail,  and 
others,  this  son  of  a  murderer  was  killed,  and  his  wife 
taken  prisoner.  The  excitement  was  very  great,  for 
Scarlet  End's  family  had  friends  among  White  Lodge's 
people  at  the  Yellow  Medicine. 

Then  came  up  Maj.  T.  W.  Sherman  with  his  battery. 
The  Spirit  Lake  murderers  must  be  punished,  but  the 
orders  from  Washington  were  that  the  annuity  Indians 
must  do  it.  To  persuade  them  to  undertake  this  was  not 
an  easy  task.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  plan  was 
a  wise  one.  There  were  too  many  Dakotas  who  sympa- 
thized with  Inkpadoota.  This  appeared  in  the  daring  of 
a  young  Dakota,  who  went  into  Maj.  Sherman's  camp  and 
stabbed  a  soldier.  He  was  immediately  taken  up  and 
placed  under  guard,  but  it  was  a  new  element  in  the  com- 
plication. 

Council  after  council  was  held.  Little  Crow,  and  the 
chiefs  and  people  generally  of  Red  Wood,  were  at  the 
Yellow  Medicine.  The  Indians  said  to  Superintendent 
Cullen,  and  Maj.  Sherman,  "  We  want  you  to  punish  Ink- 
padoota, we  can't  do  it."  But  they  were  told  that  the 
Great  Father  required  them  to  do  it,  as  a  condition  of 
receiving  their  annuities.  In  the  mean  time,  several  hun- 
dred Yanktonais  Sioux  came  over  from  the  James  River, 
who  had  complaints  of  their  own  against  the  government. 
One  day  there  was  a  grand  council  in  progress,  just  out- 
side of  Maj.  Sherman's  camp.  The  Dakota  who  stabbed 
the  white  soldier  managed  to  get  his  manacles  partly  off", 
and  ran  for  the  council.  The  guard  fired,  and  wounded 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          143 

him  in  the  feet  and  ankles,  some  shots  passing  into  the 
council  circle.  From  the  Indian  side  guns  were  fired,  and 
the  white  people  fled  to  the  soldier's  camp,  the  Dakota 
prisoner  being  taken  into  the  keeping  of  his  friends. 

For  a  while  it  was  uncertain  whether  we  were  to  have 
war  or  peace.  The  hundreds  of  Sioux  teepees,  which  cov- 
ered the  prairie  between  Dr.  Williamson's  place  and  the 
agency,  were  suddenly  taken  down,  and  the  whole  camp 
was  in  motion.  This  looked  like  war.  Dr.  Williamson 
asked  for  a  guard  of  soldiers.  The  request  could  not  be 
granted.  The  doctor  and  his  folks,  they  said,  could  come 
to  the  soldiers'  camp.  But  in  an  hour  or  two,  when  the 
good  doctor  saw  the  teepees  going  up  again,  a  couple  of 
miles  off,  he  was  content  to  remain  without  a  guard — 
there  would  not  be  war  just  then.  The  Dakota  prisoner 
could  have  been  reclaimed,  but  it  was  thought  best  to  let 
him  go,  as  the  white  soldier  was  getting  well. 

That  evening  when  I  returned  home  from  the  council, 
I  found  Aunt  Ruth  Petti  John  and  our  children  in  a  state 
of  alarm.  Mary  had  gone  down  below  on  a  visit.  The 
Sioux  camp  was  all  around  us,  and  we  were  five  miles 
away  from  the  soldiers'  camp.  What  might  take  place 
within  a  few  days  we  could  not  tell.  It  seemed  as  if  the 
nervous  strain  would  be  less  if  they  could  go  away  for 
awhile.  And  so  the  next  morning  we  put  our  house  in 
the  charge  of  Simon,  and  we  all  started  down  to  the 
Lower  Sioux  Agency.  We  had  no  settled  plan,  and 
when  we  learned  that  matters  were  being  arranged,  we 
were  at  once  ready  to  return,  having  met  Mary  with  a 
company  of  friends,  who  were  on  their  way  up  to  the 
mission.  Alfred  was  coming  home  to  spend  his  vacation 
and  had  brought  with  him  a  college  friend;  and  Mrs. 
Wilson,  a  sister  of  Dr.  Williamson,  and  her  daughter, 


144  MAKY   AND    I. 

Sophronia,  and  Miss  Maggie  Voris  were  come  to  make  a 
visit. 

When  we  reached  home,  the  Yanktonais  had  departed, 
and  Little  Crow  with  a  hundred  Dakota  braves  were 
starting  out  to  seek  Inkpadoota  and  his  band.  They 
came  upon  them  by  a  lake,  and  the  attack  was  reported 
as  made  in  the  night,  in  the  reeds  and  water.  After- 
ward, when  in  Washington,  Little  Crow  claimed  to  have 
killed  a  dozen  or  more,  but  the  claim  was  regarded  by  the 
Indians  as  untrue.  The  campaign  being  over,  the  In- 
dians returned  and  received  their  annuities,  and  thus  was 
the  Spirit  Lake  affair  passed  over.  There  was  no  suffi- 
cient punishment  inflicted.  There  was  no  fear  of  the 
white  soldiers  imparted;  perhaps  rather  a  contempt  for 
the  power  of  the  government  was  the  result,  in  the  minds 
of  White  Lodge  and  other  sympathizers  with  Inkpa- 
doota. And  even  Little  Crow  and  the  Lower  Sioux  were 
educated  thereby  for  the  outbreak  of  five  years  later. 

Isabella  Burgess  had  been  two  years  in  the  Western 
Female  Seminary,  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  Alfred  Longley 
was  completing  his  academical  course  at  Knox  College. 
Isabella  came  to  see  him  graduate,  and  then,  together, 
they  started  for  their  Indian  home,  in  Minnesota.  It  was 
about  the  first  of  July,  1858,  and  at  midnight,  when  the 
steamboat  on  which  they  were  traveling,  having  landed 
at  Red  Wing  and  discharged  some  freight,  and  pushed 
out  again  into  the  river,  was  found  to  be  on  fire.  The 
alarm  was  given,  and  the  passengers  waked  up,  and  the 
boat  immediately  turned  again  to  the  landing;  but  the 
fire  having  caught  in  some  cotton  bales  on  the  front  deck, 
spread  so  rapidly,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  passen- 
gers made  their  escape,  the  greater  part  of  them  only  in 
their  night  dress.  Their  baggage  was  all  lost.  But  the 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  145 

good  people  of  Red  Wing  cared  for  the  sufferers,  and 
started  them  homeward,  with  such  clothing  as  could  be 
furnished.  Of  the  catastrophe  we  knew  nothing,  until  I 
met  the  children  at  Saint  Peter,  whither  they  came  by 
steamboat.  This,  and  what  had  gone  before,  gave  us 
something  of  a  reputation  of  being  a  fiery  family,  and  the 
impression  was  increased  somewhat,  when,  nearly  two 
years  later,  Martha  Taylor,  in  her  second  year  at  Oxford, 
escaped  by  night,  from  the  burning  Seminary  building. 

After  Alfred's  return,  in  the  summer  of  1858,  he  spent 
a  year  at  Hazel  wood,  in  teaching  a  government  school, 
and  then  joined  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Chicago. 
In  the  summer  of  1860,  the  absent  ones  were  all  at  home. 
During  the  six  years  we  had  been  at  Hazelwood,  two 
other  children  had  been  given  us,  Robert  JSaird  and 
Mary  Cornelia  Octavia,  which  made  a  very  respectable 
little  flock  of  eight.  This,  I  think,  was  the  last  time  that 
the  whole  family  were  together. 

Twenty-five  years  had  passed  since  Dr.  Williamson 
came  to  the  Dakotas.  Many  changes  had  taken  place. 
It  was  fitting  that  the  two  families  which  remained  should, 
in  some  proper  way,  put  up  a  quarter  century  milestone. 
And  so  we  arranged  an  out-door  gathering,  at  which  we 
had  food  for  the  body  and  food  for  the  mind.  Among 
other  papers  read  at  this  time  was  one  which  I  prepared 
with  some  care,  giving  a  short  biographical  sketch  of  all 
the  persons,  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  connected 
with  the  Dakota  mission;  a  copy  of  which  was  afterward 
placed  in  the  library  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Min- 
nesota. 

Ever  since  the  removal  of  the  Lower  Indians  up  to 
their  reservation,  there  had  been  several  members  of  Dr. 

Williamson's  church  at  Kaposia,  living  near  the  Red  Wood 
10 


146  MARY   AND    I. 

Agency.  They  would  form  a -very  good  nucleus  of  a 
church,  and  make  a  good  beginning  for  a  new  station. 
This  had  been  in  our  thought  for  several  years,  but  only, 
when  in  1861,  John  P.  Williamson  finished  his  Theo- 
logical studies  at  Lane  Seminary,  had  we  the  ability  to 
take  possession  of  that  part  of  the  field.  While  we  waited, 
Bishop  Whipple  came  up  and  opened  a  mission,  placing 
there  S.  D.  Hinman.  Still  it  was  thought  advisable  to 
carry  out  our  original  plan,  and  accordingly  young  Mr- 
Williamson  took  up  his  abode  there,  organized  a  church 
of  te  n  or  twelve  members,  and  proceeded  to  erect  a  chapel. 
In  the  last  days  of  the  year  1861,  I  went  down,  by  invi- 
tation, to  assist  in  the  dedication  of  the  new  church. 

That  journey,  both  going  and  returning,  was  in  my 
sorest  experience  of  winter  travel,  but  it  helped  to  start 
forward  this  new  church  organization,  which  was  com- 
mencing very  auspiciously.  Mr.  Williamson  had  his  ar- 
rangements all  made  to  erect  a  dwelling  house  early  in 
the  next  season.  And  when  the  outbreak  took  place 
in  August,  1862,  as  Providence  would  have  it,  he  had 
gone  to  Ohio,  as  we  all  supposed,  to  consummate  an  en- 
gagement which  he  had  made  while  in  the  seminary. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  147 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1861-1862.— Republican  Administration.— Its  Mistakes.— Chang- 
ing Annuities.— Results. — Returning  from  General  Assembly. 
—A  Marriage  in  St.  Paul.— D.  Wilson  Moore  and  Wife.— 
Delayed  Payment. — Difficulty  with  the  Sissetons. — Peace 
Again. — Recruiting  for  the  Southern  War. — Seventeenth  of 
August,  1862. — The  Outbreak. — Remembering  Christ's  Death. 
— Massacres  Commenced. — Capt.  Marsh's  Company. — Our 
Flight. — Reasons  Therefor.— Escape  to  an  Island. — Final 
Leaving. — A  Wounded  Man. — Traveling  on  the  Prairie. — 
Wet  Night.— Taking  a  Picture.— Change  of  Plan.— Night 
Travel. — Going  around  Fort  Ridgely. — Night  Scares. — Safe 
Passage. — Four  Men  Killed, — The  Lord  Leads  Us. — Sab- 
bath.— Reaching  the  Settlements. — Mary  at  St.  Anthony. 

When  President  Lincoln's  administration  commenced 
we  were  glad  to  welcome  a  change  of  Indian  agents. 
But  after  a  little  trial,  we  found  that  a  Republican  ad- 
ministration was  quite  as  likely  to  make  mistakes,  in  the 
management  of  Indians,  as  a  Democratic  one.  Hardly 
had  the  new  order  of  things  been  inaugurated  in  1861, 
when  Superintendent  Clark  W.  Thompson  announced  to 
the  Sioux  gathered  at  Yellow  Medicine,  that  the  Great 
Father  was  going  to  make  them  all  very  glad.  They  had 
received  their  annuities  for  that  year,  but  were  told  that 
the  government  would  give  them  a  further  bounty  in  the 
autumn.  At  one  of  Thompson's  councils,  Paul  made 
one  of  his  most  telling  speeches.  He  presented  many 


148  MARY   AND   I. 

grievances,  which  the  new  administration  promised  to  re- 
dress. But  when  the  superintendent  was  asked  where 
this  additional  gift  came  from,  he  could  not  tell — only  it 
was  to  be  great,  and  would  make  them  very  glad. 

By  such  words,  the  four  thousand  Upper  Sioux  were  en- 
couraged to  expect  great  things.  Accordingly,  the  Sis- 
setons  from  Lake  Traverse  came  down  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  promised  goods  should  have  been  there,  but 
low  water  in  the  Minnesota  and  Mississippi  delayed  their 
arrival.  The  Indians  waited,  and  had  to  be  fed  by 
Agent  Galbraith.  And  when  the  goods  came  the  deep 
snows  had  come  also,  and  the  season  for  hunting  was  past. 
Moreover,  the  great  gift  was  only  $10,000  worth  of  goods, 
or  $2.50  apiece!  While  they  had  waited,  many  of  the 
men  could  have  earned  from  $50  to  $100,  by  hunting.  It 
was  a  terrible  mistake  of  the  government  at  Washington. 
The  result  was,  that  of  the  Upper  Sioux,  the  agent  was 
obliged  to  feed  more  than  a  thousand  persons  all  winter. 
The  Lower  Sioux  were  suspicious  of  the  matter,  and 
refused  to  receive  their  ten  thousand  dollars  worth  of 
goods,  until  they  could  know  whence  it  came.  By  and  by 
the  Democrats  in  the  country  learned  that  the  administra- 
tion had  determined  on  changing  the  money  annuity  into 
goods,  and  had  actually  commenced  the  operation,  send- 
ing on  the  year  before  $20,000  of  the  $70,000  which 
would  be  due  next  summer.  The  knowledge  of  this 
planning  of  bad  faith  in  the  government  greatly  exas- 
perated the  annuity  Indians,  and  was  undoubtedly  the 
primal  cause  which  brought  on  the  outbreak  of  the  next 
summer.  Men  who  were  opposed  to  the  Republican 
administration  and  the  Southern  war  had  now  a  grand 
opportunity  to  work  jipon  the  fears  and  the  hopes  of  the 
Indians,  and  make  them  badly  affected  toward  the  gov- 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  149 

ernment.  And  they  seemed  to  have  carried  it  a  little  too 
far,  so  that  when  the  conflict  came,  it  was  most  disastrous 
for  them. 

As  the  summer  of  1862  came  on,  the  Washington  gov- 
ernment recognized  their  mistake,  and  sought  to  rectify 
it,  by  replacing  the  $20,000  which  had  been  taken  from 
the  money  of  the  July  payment.  But  to  do  this,  they 
were  obliged  to  await  a  new  appropriation,  and  this  de- 
layed the  bringing  on  of  the  money  full  six  weeks  beyond 
the  regular  time  of  payment.  If  the  money  had  been  on 
hand  the  first  of  July,  instead  of  reaching  Fort  Ridgely 
after  the  outbreak  commenced,  one  cannot  say  but  that 
the  Sioux  war  would  have  been  prevented. 

About  the  first  of  July,  I  returned  from  Ohio,  whither 
I  had  been  to  attend  the  General  Assembly  in  Cincinnati, 
and  to  bring  home  Martha  Tayh  r,  who  had  just  com- 
pleted the  course  at  College  Hill.  After  the  fire  at  Ox- 
ford, she  had  accepted  Rev.  F.  Y.  Vail's  invitation  to  go 
to  his  institution  near  Cincinnati.  There  she  remained 
until  the  end  of  the  year.  Then  Isabella  and  Anna  went 
on — the  latter  going  to  Mr.  Vail's  seminary,  and  the  for- 
mer attending  the  senior  class  of  the  Western  Female 
Seminary,  under  a  special  arrangement  before  the  semi- 
nary was  rebuilt.  So  that  now,  both  the  older  girls  had 
completed  the  course. 

On  our  return  this  time,  we  had  with  us  Marion  Robert- 
son, a  young  woman  with  a  little  Dakota  blood,  who  had 
been  spending  some  time  in  Ohio,  and  who  was  affianced 
to  a  Mr.  Hunter,  a  government  carpenter  at  the  Lower 
Sioux  agency.  By  arrangement,  Mr.  Hunter  met  us  in 
Saint  Paul,  and  I  married  them  one  evening,  in  the  par- 
lors of  the  Merchant's  Hotel.  Six  or  seven  weeks  after 
this,  Mr.  Hunter  was  killed  in  the  outbreak. 


150  MARY    AND    I. 

At  that  marriage  in  the  hotel,  were  present  D.  Wilson 
Moore  and  his  bride  from  Fisslerville,  New  Jersey,  near 
Philadelphia.  Mr.  Moore  was  of  the  firm  of  Moore  Broth- 
ers (engaged  extensively  in  glass  manufacturing),  had  just 
married  a  young  bride,  and  they  had  come  to  Minnesota 
on  their  wedding  trip.  We  had  reached  home  only  a  few 
days  before,  when,  to  our  surprise,  Mr.  Moore  and  his 
wife  drove  up  to  our  mission.  They  had  heard  that  the 
Indian  payment  was  soon  to  be  made,  and  so  had  come 
up;  but,  not  finding  accommodations  at  the  agency,  they 
came  on  to  see  if  we  would  not  take  them  in.  We  had 
a  large  family,  but  if  they  would  be  satisfied  with  our 
fare,  and  take  care  of  themselves,  Mary  would  do  the 
best  she  could  for  them.  This  will  account  for  the  way 
in  which  Mrs.  Moore  lost  all  her  silk  dresses. 

The  whole  four  thousand  Indians  were  now  gathered 
at  the  Yellow  Medicine.  The  Sissetons  of  Lake  Traverse 
had  hoed  their  corn  and  come  down.  It  was  the  regular 
time  for  receiving  their  annuities,  before  the  corn  needed 
watching.  But  the  annuity  money  had  not  come.  The 
agent  did  not  know  when  it  would  come.  He  had  not 
sent  for  them  and  he  could  not  feed  them — he  had  barely 
enough  provisions  to  keep  them  while  the  payment  was 
being  made.  The  truth  was,  he  had  used  up  the  provis- 
ions on  them,  in  the  previous  winter.  So  he  told  them 
he  would  give  them  some  flour  and  pork,  and  then  they 
must  go  home,  and  wait  until  he  called  them.  They  took 
the  provisions,  but  about  going  home  they  could  not  see 
it  in  that  way.  It  was  a  hundred  miles  up  to  their  plant- 
ing place,  and  to  trudge  up  there  and  back,  with  little  or 
nothing  to  eat,  and  carry  their  tents  and  baggage  and 
children  on  horse-back  and  on  dog-back  and  on  woman- 
back,  was  more  than  they  cared  to  do.  Besides,  there 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  151 

was  nothing  for  them  to  eat  at  home.  They  must  go  out 
on  the  buffalo  hunt,  and  then  they  might  miss  their  money. 
And  so  they  preferred  to  stay,  and  beg  and  steal,  or 
starve. 

But  stealing  and  begging  furnished  but  a  very  scanty 
fare,  and  starving  was  not  pleasant.  The  young  men 
talked  the  matter  over,  and  concluded  that  the  flour  and 
pork  In  the  warehouse  belonged  to  them,  and  there  could 
not  be  much  wrong  in  their  taking  it.  And  so  one  day, 
they  marcxhed  up  to  the  storehouse  with  axes  in  hand,  and 
battered  down  the  door.  They  had  commenced  to  carry 
out  the  flour,  when  the  lieutenant  with  ten  soldiers  turned 
the  howitzer  upon  them.  This  led  them  to  desist,  for  the 
Dakotas  were  unarmed.  But  they  were  greatly  enraged, 
and  threatened  to  bring  their  guns  and  kill  the  little 
squad  of  white  soldiers.  And  what  made  this  seem  more 
likely,  the  Sioux  tents  were  at  once  struck  and  the  camp 
removed  off  several  miles.  Agent  Galbraith  sent  up  word 
that  he  wanted  help.  And  when  Mr.  Mooro  and  I  drove 
down,  he  said,  "  If  there  is  anything  between  the  lids  of 
the  Bible  that  will  meet  this  case,  I  wish  you  would  use 
it."  I  told  him  I  thought  there  was;  and  advised  him  to 
call  a  council  of  the  principal  men  and  talk  the  thing 
over.  Whereupon  I  went  to  the  tent  of  Standing  Buf- 
falo, the  head  chief  of  the  Sissetons,  and  arranged  for  a 
council  that  afternoon. 

The  chiefs  and  braves  gathered.  The  young  men  who 
had  broken  the  door  down  were  there.  The  Indians 
argued  that  they  were  starving,  and  that  the  flour  and 
pork  in  the  warehouse  had  been  purchased  with  their 
money.  It  was  wrong  to  break  in  the  door,  but  now  they 
would  authorize  the  agent  to  take  of  their  money  and 
repair  the  door.  Whereupon  *-the  agent  agreed  to  give 


152  MARY   AND    I. 

them  some  provisions,  and  insisted  on  their  going  home, 
which  they  promised  to  do.  The  Sissetons  left  on  the 
morrow,  and  so  far  as  they  were  concerned  the  difficulty 
was  over;  for,  on  reaching  home,  they  started  on  a  buffalo 
hunt.  Peace  and  quiet  now  reigned  at  the  Yellow  Medi- 
cine. Mr.  Moore  occupied  himself  in  shooting  pigeons, 
and  we  all  became  quite  attached  to  Mrs.  Moore  and 
himself. 

In  the  meantime,  an  effort  was  made  at  the  agencies, 
among  half-breeds  and  employes,  to  enlist  soldiers  for 
the  Southern  war.  Quite  a  number  were  enlisted,  and 
when  the  trouble  came,  Agent  Galbraith  was  below  with 
these  recruits.  Several  strangers  were  in  the  country. 
It  was  afterward  claimed  that  there  were  men  here  in  the 
interests  of  the  South.  I  did  not  see  any  of  that  class- 
But  some  photographers  were  there.  Adrian  J.  Ebell,  a 
student  of  Yale  College,  was  taking  stereoscopic  views,  and 
a  gentleman  from  St.  Paul  also. 

The  seventeeth  of  August  was  the  Sabbath.  It  was 
sacramental  Sabbath  at  Hazel  wood.  As  our  custom  was> 
both  churches  came  together  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  death. 
Our  house  was  well  filled,  and  we  have  always  remem- 
bered that  Sabbath  as  one  of  precious  interest,  for  it  was 
the  last  time  we  were  to  meet  in  that  beautiful  little  mis- 
sion chapel.  A  great  trial  of  our  faith  and  patience  was 
corning  upon  us,  and  we  knew  it  not.  But  the  dear 
Christ  knew  that  both  we  and  the  native  Christians 
needed  just  such  a  quiet  rest  with  Him,  before  the  trials 
came. 

Whilewe,atHazelwo3dand  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze,  were  thus 
engaged  on  that  Sabbath  of  August  seventeenth,  the  out- 
break was  commenced  in  the  border  white  settlements  at 
Acton,  Minnesota.  As  usual  the  difficulty  was  commenced 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          153 

at  a  grog  shop.  Some  four  or  five  Indians  made  demands 
which  were  not  complied  with,  whereat  they  began  to 
kill  the  whites.  That  night  they  reached  the  villages  at 
the  Lower  Sioux  Agency,  and  a  council  of  war  was 
called. 

Something  of  this  kind  had  been  meditated,  and  talked 
of,  and  prepared  for  undoubtedly.  Sometime  before  this, 
they  had  formed  the  Tee-yo-tee-pe,  or  Soldiers'  Lodge, 
which  is  only  organized  on  special  occasions,  for  the  hunt 
or  for  war.  Some  negotiations  were  probably  going  on 
with  the  Winnebagoes  and  Ojibwas.  But  they  were  not 
perfected.  Several  Winnebagoes  were  at  this  time  at 
the  Lower  Agency,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
there  for  the  purpose  of  the  outbreak.  In  the  council 
held  that  night,  Little  Crow  is  reported  to  have  expressed 
his  regret  that  the  matter  was  precipitated  upon  them, 
but  he  yielded  to  the  argument  that  their  hands  were 
now  bloody. 

The  attack  was  commenced  in  the  early  morning  at  the 
stores,  Mr.  James  W.  Lynd  at  Myrick's  store  being  the 
first  white  man  shot  down.  So  the  ball  rolled.  Many 
were  killed  and  some  escaped.  Word  of  the  rising  was 
carried  to  Fort  Ridgely,  and  Capt.  Marsh  was  sent  up  to 
quell  it.  The  Indians  met  his  company  of  fifty  men  at 
the  Ferry,  and  killed  hilf  of  them  there,  the  rest  making 
their  escape  with  difficulty.  These  things  had  been  going 
on  during  the  day,  forty  miles  from  us,  but  we  knew  it 
not.  Five  miles  below,  at  the  Yellow  Medicine,  they  had 
heard  of  it  by  noon.  The  Indians  gathered  to  consult 
what  they  would  do.  Some,  we  learned,  gave  their  voice 
for  killing  the  white  people,  but  more  were  in  favor  of 
only  taking  the  goods  and  property.  The  physician  at 
the  Yellow  Medicine  was  absent,  and  a  young  man  started 


154:  MARY    AND    I. 

down  that  day  with  the  doctor's  wife  and  children  in  a 
buggy.  Before  they  reached  Red  Wood,  they  were  met 
by  two  Dakota  men — the  white  man  was  killed  and  the 
woman  and  children  taken  captive. 

The  sun  was  getting  low  Monday  evening,  when  we  at 
Hazel  wood  heard  of  what  was  going  on.  Mr.  Antoine 
Renville,  one  of  the  elders  of  my  church,  came  running 
in  much  excited,  and  said  the  Indians  were  killing  white 
people.  We  thought  it  must  be  only  a  drinking  quarrel. 
The  statement  needed  to  be  repeated  and  particularized 
somewhat  before  we  could  believe  it.  Soon  others  came 
in  and  told  more.  Blackness  seemed  to  be  gathering 
upon  all  faces.  The  parents  came  to  the  boarding-school 
and  took  away  their  children.  For  several  years  Mary 
had  kept  Angelique  and  Agnes  Renville.  At  this  time, 
the  older  one  was  in  Ohio,  and  the  younger  one  went 
home  with  her  mother. 

Jonas  Pettijohn,  an  old  associate  in  mission  work  at 
Lac-qui-parle,  had  been  for  some  years  a  government 
teacher  at  Red  Iron's  village,  about  fifteen  miles  above 
us.  He  had  now  been  released,  and  was  removing  his 
family.  Mrs.  Pettijohn  and  the  children  had  reached  our 
house.  Mr.  Pettijohn  came  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening 
with  his  last  load,  which  he  was  bringing  with  my  horse 
team.  The  Indian  men,  who  had  brought  down  his 
goods,  when  they  heard  of  the  erneute^  started  back  im- 
mediately, and  meeting  Mr.  Pettijohn,  took  the  horses. 
They  justified  themselves  by  saying  that  somebody  would 
take  them. 

Thus,  as  the  darkness  came  on,  we  became  sure  that 
our  Dakota  friends  believed  the  reports.  In  the  gloaming, 
strange  men  appeared  at  our  stables,  and  others  of  our 
horses  were  taken.  A  dozen  of  our  neighbor  men  came, 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  155 

and  said  they  would  stand  guard  with  their  guns.  As  the 
evening  progressed  we  sent  a  messenger  down  to  the 
Yellow  Medicine,  who  brought  word  that  the  stores  were 
surrounded  by  Indians,  and  would  be  broken  in  soon. 
Mr.  Givens,  the  sub-agent,  sent  up  a  note  asking  me  to 
come  down  very  early  in  the  morning.  Some  of  the 
Christian  Dakota  women  gathered  into  our  house,  and  we 
prayed,  and  sang  "  God  is  the  refuge  of  his  saints." 

It  was  after  midnight  before  we  thought 'of  leaving. 
The  young  folks  had  lain  down  and  slept  awhile.  By 
and  by  Paul  came,  and  asked  me  to  give  him  some  blue 
cloth  I  had  on  hand — he  must  dress  like  an  Indian  to  be 
safe.  And  they  evidently  began  to  feel  that  we  might 
not  be  safe,  and  that  our  staying  would  endanger  them. 
This  was  made  the  more  serious  because  of  Mrs.  Moore 
and  our  three  grown  daughters.  Indian  men  would  kill 
us  to  get  possession  of  them.  Thus  the  case  was  stated 
by  our  neighbors.  Afterward  we  had  good  reason  to 
know  that  they  reasoned  rightly. 

And  so  we  waked  up  the  children  and  made  prepara- 
tions to  depart.  But  it  was  only  to  be  temporary.  The 
plan  was  to  go  down  to  an  island  in  the  Minnesota  River, 
and  remain  until  the  danger  was  overpast.  Mr.  Moore 
looked  to  his  revolver,  the  only  reliable  weapon  among 
us.  Thomas  and  Henry  got  their  double  barrel  shot-gun. 
Mary  put  up  a  bag  of  provisions,  but  unfortunately  we 
forgot  it  when  we  departed.  Fortunately  again,  it  was 
brought  to  us  in  the  morning  by  Zoe,  a  Dakota  woman. 
Each  one  had  a  little  baggage,  but  there  was  not 
enough  extra  clothing  in  the  company  to  make  them  com- 
fortable at  night.  When  the  daylight  came,  we  were  all 
over  on  the  island,  but  our  team  was  left,  and  was  stolen, 


156  MARY   AND    I. 

with  the  exception  of  one  horse.  So  we  were  in  rather 
a  helpless  condition  as  regards  further  escape. 

On  this  little  island  we  were  away  from  the  excitement 
and  present  danger;  but  how  long  it  would  be  safe  for  us 
to  remain  there  was  quite  uncertain.  We  could  trust  our 
own  Indians  that  we  should  not  be  personally  injured, 
but  how  soon  strange  Indians  would  find  our  hiding 
place,  we  could  not  tell.  During  the  forenoon  I  crossed 
back  and  went  to  the  village,  to  learn  the  progress  of 
events.  They  did  not  seem  to  be  encouraging.  The 
stores  at  the  Yellow  Medicine  had  been  sacked.  The 
white  people  had  all  left  in  the  early  morning,  being  con- 
voyed by  John  Otherday.  The  only  safe  course  open  to 
us  appeared  to  be  in  getting  away  also.  It  was  after 
midday,  when  we  learned  that  Andrew  Hunter  and  Dr. 
Williamson's  young  folks  had  succeeded  in  coming  away 
with  both  a  horse  team  and  an  ox  team.  They  had  some 
flour  and  other  provisions  with  them,  and  had  driven  along 
the  doctor's  cattle.  Moreover,  they  had  succeeded  in  cross- 
ing the  Minnesota  at  a  point  a  mile  or  two  below  where  we 
then  were.  From  the  island  we  could  wade  over  to  the 
north  side.  This  we  proceeded  to  do,  leaving  the  only 
trunk  that  had  been  brought  this  far,  by  Mr.  Cunning- 
ham's sister. 

Andrew  Hunter  drove  one  of  his  wagons  around  on 
the  prairie  to  meet  our  party  as  we  emerged  from  the 
ravine,  each  carrying  a  little  bundle.  The  women  and 
children  who  could  not  walk  were  arranged  with  the 
bundles  in  the  wagon.  Mr.  Cunningham  was  successful 
in  getting  one  of  his  horses — the  other  had  been  appro- 
priated by  an  Indian  together  with  mine.  His  one  horse 
he  attached  to  my  buggy  and  brought  it  over  the  river, 
and  we  proceeded  to  join  the  rest  of  Mr.  Hunter's  party. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  157 

Two  or  three  families  of  government  employes  from  the 
saw-mill  had  found  their  way  to  our  missionary  company. 
Thus  constituted,  we  started  for  the  old  crossing  of  Hawk 
River,  some  six  or  eight  miles  distant. 

While  we  were  still  in  sight  of  the  river  bluffs,  we  dis- 
covered a  man  coming  after  us.  He  was  evidently  a 
white  man,  and  hobbled  along  with  difficulty,  as  though 
he  were  wounded.  "We  stopped  until  he  overtook  us.  It 
proved  to  be  a  man  by  the  name  of  Orr,  whose  comrades 
had  been  killed  up  near  the  mouth  of  the  Chippewa,  and 
he  escaped  in  a  crippled  condition.  Our  wagons  were 
more  than  full,  but  we  could  make  room  for  a  wounded 
white  man.  About  this  time  a  rain  shower  came  upon  us, 
which  was  a  God-send  in  many  ways,  although  it  made 
camping  that  night  rather  unpleasant. 

When  night  overtook  us,  we  were  across  the  stream — 
Hawk  River — and  we  lay  down  to  rest  and  to  consider 
what  should  be  our  course  on  the  morrow.  In  the  morn- 
ing, we  had  decided  to  cross  the  country,  or  endeavor  to 
do  so,  toward  Hutchinson  or  Glencoe.  But  the  country 
was  not  familiar  to  us.  We  frequently  found  ourselves 
stopped  in  our  course  by  a  slough  which  was  not  easy  to 
cross.  Still  we  kept  on  our  way  during  Wednesday,  and 
in  the  afternoon  there  fell  to  us  four  men  from  Otherday's 
party.  These  men  all  had  guns  which  were  not  of  much 
account.  They  belonged  at  New  Ulm,  and  did  not  want 
to  go  to  Hutchinson.  But  they  continued  with  us  that 
day. 

The  evening  came  with  a  slow  continued  rain.  The 
first  night  we  were  out,  the  smaller  children  had  cried  for 
home.  The  second  night  some  of  the  older  children 
would  have  cried  if  it  had  been  of  any  use.  We  had  no 
shelter.  The  wagons  were  no  protection  against  the  con- 


158 


MARY   AND    I. 


tinued  rain,  but  it  was  rather  natural  to  crawl  under  them. 
The  drop,  drop,  DROP,  all  night  long  from  the  wagon  beds, 
on  the  women  and  children,  who  had  not  more  than  half 
covering  in  that  cold  August  rain,  was  not  promotive  of 
cheerfulness.  Mrs.  Moore  looked  sad  and  disheartened, 
and  to  my  question  as  to  how  she  did,  she  replied  that 
one  might  as  well  die  as  live  under  such  circumstances. 

Thursday  morning  found  us  cold  and  wet,  and  entirely 
out  of  cooked  food.  Since  the  first  night  we  had  not 
been  where  we  could  obtain  wood.  And  then,  and  since, 
we  should  have  been  afraid  to  kindle  a  fire  lest  the  smoke 
should  betray  us.  But  now  it  was  necessary  that  we 
should  find  wood  as  soon  as  possible.  And  so  our  course 
was  taken  toward  a  clump  of  trees  which  were  in  sight. 
When  we  came  into  their  neighborhood  about  noon,  we 
found  them  entirely  surrounded  by  water.  But  the  men 
waded  in  and  brought  wood  enough  for  the  purposes  of 
camping.  There  we  spent  the  afternoon  and  night.  There 
we  killed  one  of  the  cows.  And  there  we  baked  bread 
and  roasted  meat  on  the  coals,  having  neither  pot  nor  ket- 
tle nor  pan  to  do  it  in.  And  while  we  were  eating,  Mr. 
Ebell  fixed  up  his  apparatus  and  took  a  very  good  stereo- 
scopic picture  of  the  party. 

We  had  discovered  from  surveyor's  stakes  that  we  were 
making  slow  progress,  and  so  we  decided,  as  we  started 
Friday  morning,  to  abandon  our  plan  of  going  to  Hutch  - 
inson,  and  turn  down  to  the  old  Lac-qui-parle  road,  which 
would  lead  us  to  Fort  Ridgely.  This  road  we  reached  in 
time  to  take  our  noon  rest  at  Birch  Coolie,  nearly  oppo- 
site the  Lower  Sioux  Agency,  where  the  massacres  had 
commenced.  We  were  not  much  posted  in  what  had 
taken  place  there.  Mr.  Hunter  rode  over  to  see  his  house 
only  a  couple  of  miles  distant.  There  he  met  Tatemema 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         159 

— Round  Wind — an  old  Indian  whom  he  knew,  who  told 
him  to  hurry  on  to  the  Fort,  as  all  the  white  people  had 
been  killed  or  had  fled.  Just  as  we  were  starting  from 
this  place  a  team  came  in  sight,  which  proved  to  be  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Williamson  and  Aunt  Jane  with  an  ox  team. 
They  had  remained  until  Wednesday  morning,  and  thought 
to  stay  through  the  trouble,  but  finally  concluded  it  was 
best  to  leave  and  follow  us.  Our  company  now  numbered 
over  forty,  but  it  was  a  very  defenceless  one. 

We  were  sixteen  miles  from  Fort  Ridgely,  and  our 
thought  was  to  go  in  there  under  cover  of  the  night. 
The  darkness  came  on  us  when  we  were  still  seven  or 
eight  miles  away;  and  then  in  the  gloaming  there  ap- 
peared, on  a  little  hill-top,  two  Indians  on  horseback. 
They  might  bring  a  war  party  upon  us.  And  so  we  put 
ourselves  in  the  best  position  for  defense.  Martha  and 
Anna  had  generally  walked  with  the  boys.  Now  they 
piled  on  the  wagons,  and  the  men  and  boys,  with  such 
weapons  as  we  had,  marched  by  their  side.  As  the  night 
came  on  we  began  to  observe  lights  as  of  burning  build- 
ings, and  rockets  thrown  up  from  the  garrison.  What 
could  the  latter  mean?  We  afterward  learned  they  were 
signals  of  distress! 

In  our  one-horse  buggy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunter  drove 
ahead  of  the  party,  and  he  crawled  into  the  garrison.  He 
found  that  the  Indians  had  beleaguered  them,  had  set  fire 
to  all  the  out-buildings  of  the  Fort,  appropriated  all  their 
stock,  had  been  fighting  all  day,  and  had  retired  to  the 
ravine  as  the  night  came  on.  The  Fort  was  already 
crowded  with  women  and  children,  and  scantily  manned 
by  soldiers.  We  could  come  in,  they  said,  but  our  teams 
would  be  taken  by  the  Indians.  They  expected  the  at- 
tack would  be  renewed  the  next  day. 


160  MARY    AND    I. 

When  Mr.  Hunter  returned  we  stopped  in  the  road  and 
held  a  hasty  consultation,  as  we  were  in  a  good  deal  of 
fear  that  we  were  even  now  followed.  We  had  just 
passed  a  house  where  the  dogs  alone  remained  to  bark, 
which  they  did  furiously.  And  just  then  s.ome  of  the 
party,  walking  by  the  side  of  our  wagons,  stumbled  over 
the  dead  body  of  a  man.  There  was  no  time  to  lose.  We 
decided  not  to  go  in,  but  to  turn  out  and  go  around  the 
Fort  and  its  beleaguering  forces,  if  possible.  The  four 
men  who  had  fallen  to  our  company — three  Germans  and 
an  Irishman — dissented.  But  we  told  them  no  one  should 
leave  us  until  we  were  past  the  danger.  And  to  prevent 
any  desertion  in  this  our  hour  of  trial,  Mr.  Moore  cocked 
his  revolver,  and  would  shoot  down  the  ma'n  who  attempted 
to  leave. 

It  was  ten  o'clock,  and  the  night  was  dark.  We  turned 
square  off  the  road,  and  went  up  northward  to  seek  an 
old  ford  over  the  little  stream  that  runs  down  by  the  Fort. 
The  Lord  guided  us  to  the  right  place,  but  while  we  were 
hunting  in  the  willows  for  the  old  unused  road,  there  was 
a  cry  heard  so  much  like  a  human  cry,  that  we  were  all 
quite  startled.  We  thought  it  was  the  signal  of  an  at- 
tack by  the  Indians.  Probably  it  was  only  the  cry  of  a 
fox.  Just  then  Dr.  Williamson  came  to  me  and'said  per- 
haps he  had  counseled  wrongly,  and  that  if  it  was  thought 
best,  he  was  quite  willing  to  go  back  to  the  Fort.  But  I 
replied  that  we  were  now  almost  around  it,  and  it  would 
be  unwise  to  go  back.  And  so  we  traveled  on  over  the 
ravine  and  up  on  the  broad  prairie  beyond,  and  received 
no  harm.  Our  pulses  began  to  beat  less  furiously  as  we 
traveled  on  toward  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  felt 
that  we  were  out  of  sight  and  hearing  of  the  Sioux  war- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          161 

riors.  So  we  stopped  to  rest  our  weary  cattle.  Some 
slept  for  an  hour,  but  the  greater  part  kept  watch. 

As  we  were  around  the  Fort,  and  around  the  danger  so 
far  as  we  knew,  it  was  understood  that  the  four  men  who 
wanted  to  leave  in  the  night,  might  leave  us  in  the  morn- 
ing. And  as  it  was  possible  they  might  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  send  a  letter  to  Gov.  Ramsey  before  we  should, 
Dr.  Williamson  and  I  attempted  to  write  something  by 
starlight.  But  nothing  came  of  that  letter.  When  the 
light  began  to  dawn  in  the  east,  our  party  was  aroused 
and  moving  forward.  We  had  been  guided  aright  in  the 
night  travel,  for  here  we  were  at  the  old  Lac-qui-parle 
crossing  of  Mud  River.  Here  the  four  men  left  us,  and 
as  the  sun  arose  we  saw  the  sheen  of  their  guns  as  they 
were  entering  a  little  wood  two  or  three  miles  away.  And 
only  a  little  while  after  that  we  heard  the  report  of  guns; 
the  poor  fellows  had  fallen  in  with  the  Sioux  army,  which 
in  that  early  morning  were  on  their  march  to  attack  New 
Ulm.  We  did  not  know  their  fate  until  afterward. 

Our  party  now  fell  into  the  road  that  leads  to  Hender- 
son, and  traveled  all  that  Saturday  in  safety.  But  on  the 
Saint  Peter  road,  five  or  six  miles  to  our  right,  we  saw 
the  burning  stacks  and  houses,  and  afterward  knew  that 
the  Sioux  were  on  that  road  killing  white  people  all  that 
day.  It  was  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  when  we  came 
to  a  deserted  house.  The  dishes  were  on  the  table.  We 
found  cream  and  butter  in  the  cellar,  and  potatoes  and 
corn  in  the  garden.  We  stopped  and  cooked  and  ate  a 
good  square  meal,  of  which  we  were  greatly  in  need. 
Then  we  pushed  on  and  came  to  another  house  sometime 
after  nightfall,  which  was  deserted  by  the  humans,  but 
the  cattle  were  there.  Here  we  spent  the  night,  and 
would  have  been  glad  to  rest  the  Sabbath,  but  as  yet 


162  MARY   AND    I. 

there  was  too  much  uncertainty.  Three  or  four  hours' 
travel,  however,  brought  us  to  a  cross-roads,  where  the 
whole  settlement  seemed  to  have  gathered.  We  there 
learned  that  a  company  of  troops  had  passed  up,  and  had 
turned  across  to  Saint  Peter.  This  seemed  to  be  a  guar- 
antee of  safety,  and  so  we  rested  the  remainder  of  the  day, 
gathering  in  the  afternoon  to  worship  Him,  who  had  been, 
and  was,  our  deliverer  and  guide. 

All  the  events  of  the  week  past  appeared  so  strange. 
We  had  hardly  found  any  time  to  consider  them.  But 
often  the  thought  came  to  us,  What  will  become  of  our 
quarter- century's  work  among  the  Dakotas?  It  seemed  to 
be  lost.  We  could  see  no  good  way  out  of  the  difficulties. 
As  we  came  into  the  settlements  we  began  to  learn  some- 
thing of  the  terribleness  of  the  entente,  how  the  Indians 
had  spread  terror  and  death  all  along  the  frontier.  And 
still  their  deadly  work  was  going  on.  In  the  dusk  of  the 
Sabbath  evening  we  talked  over  matters  a  little,  as  we 
planned  to  separate  in  the  morning.  Some  pecuniary  ad- 
justments were  made,  D.  Wilson  Moore  being  the  only  one 
who  had  any  money.  But  all  the  party  exchanged  prom- 
ises. 

In  the  morning  of  Monday,  Dr.  Williamson  and  his 
part  of  the  company  started  across  to  Saint  Peter.  There 
remained  only  Mr.  Moore  and  wife  and  Adrian  J.  Ebell 
and  my  family,  and  we  had  the  use  of  an  ox  team  to 
take  us  to  Shakopee.  It  was  twelve  miles  to  Henderson. 
When  we  came  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  above  the  town, 
we  were  met  by  several  women  who  were  strangers  to  us. 
They  rushed  up  and  grasped  our  hands.  I  asked  what 
they  knew  of  us.  They  said,  "  We  have  white  hearts, 
and  we  heard  you  were  all  killed."  Our  young  folks  had 
worn  out  their  shoes,  and  their  feet  also,  by  walking 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         163 

through  the  sharp  grass,  and  needed  something  to  wear. 
When  these  wants  were  attended  to,  and  we  all  had  par- 
taken of  a  good  dinner  at  the  hotel,  we  started  on — Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Moore  taking  the  little  steamboat  to  Saint  Paul. 
When  they  arrived  there,  Mr.  Shaw,  of  the  Merchants 
Hotel,  telegraphed  back  to  Mr.  John  Moore,  of  Philadel- 
phia, of  their  arrival.  He  had  just  before  received  an 
urgent  telegram,  "  Get  the  bodies  at  any  cost." 

On  our  way  to  Shakopee  we  were  met  by  our  old  friend 
S.  W.  Pond,  who  had  been  trying  for  days  to  ascertain 
whether  the  report  of  our  being  killed  was  true  or  not. 
He  gave  Mary  and  the  children  a  cordial  welcome  to  his 
home.  They  remained  there  a  few  days,  and  then  went 
on  to  G.  H.  Pond's,  and  from  thence  to  Saint  Anthony, 
where  Mary  found  an  old  personal  friend  in  Mrs.  McKee, 
the  wife  of  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  They 
also  found  friends  in  all  the  good  families,  and  soon  rented 
a  house  and  commenced  living  by  themselves,  the  neigh- 
bors helping  them  to  many  articles  which  they  needed. 

On  hearing  of  the  outbreak,  Alfred,  who  had  been 
preaching  a  few  months  at  Lockport,  111.,  furnished  him- 
self with  a  revolver,  and  hastened  up  to  see  what  could 
be  done.  But  meeting  the  family  at  Shakopee,  he  returned 
to  Illinois  without  making  any  demonstration  of  prowess, 
taking  with  him  Anna,  and,  after  she  was  somewhat  re- 
cruited, sending  her  to  Rockford  Female  Seminary. 


164  MARY    AND    I. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1862.— Gen.  Sibley's  Expedition.— I  Go  as  Chaplain.— At  Fort 
Ridgely.— The  Burial  Party.— Birch  Coolie  Defeat.— Simon 
and  Lorenzo  Bring  in  Captives. — March  to  Yellow  Medicine. 
—Battle  of  Wood  Lake.— Indians  Flee.— Camp  Release.— 
A  Hundred  Captives  Rescued. — Amos  W.  Huggins  Killed. — 
We  Send  for  His  Wife  and  Children.— Spirit  Walker  has 
Protected  Them.— Martha's  Letter. 

When  Mary  and  the  children  had  safely  reached  friends 
and  civilization  at  Mr.  Pond's,  I  was  pressed  in  spirit  with 
the  thought  that  I  might  have  some  duty  to  perform  in 
the  Indian  country.  At  Lac-qui-parle,  twenty-five  miles 
beyond  our  station  at  Hazelwood,  were  Amos  W.  Hug- 
gins  with  wife  and  children,  and  Miss  Julia  La  Framboise. 
They  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  government  as 
teachers,  at  Wakanmane's  village.  What  had  befallen 
them  we  knew  not,  but  we  knew  that  white  men  had  been 
killed  between  our  place  and  Lac-qui-parle.  Then  our 
native  church  members — they  might  need  help.  And  so 
I  took  a  boat  at  Shakopee,  and  went  down  to  Saint  Paul, 
and  offered  my  services  to  Governor  Ramsey,  in  whatever 
capacity  he  chose  to  put  me.  He  immediately  commis- 
sioned me  as  chaplain  to  Gen.  Sibley's  expedition.  The 
last  day  of  August  I  was  at  Saint  Peter,  where  I  learned 
from  Mr.  Huggins'  friends  the  story  that  he  had  been 
killed,  and  that  his  wife  and  children  were  captives.  In 
regard  to  them  I  received  a,  special  charge  from  Mrs. 
Holtsclaw,  and  I  conceived  a  plan  of  immediately  send- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         165 

ing  for  Mrs.  Huggins.  But  circumstances  made  it  im- 
possible to  carry  out  that  plan  for  several  weeks. 

The  next  day,  Sabbath  though  it  was,  I  rode  up  with 
Col.  Marshall  and  others  to  Fort  Ridgely,  where  Gen. 
Sibley's  command  was  encamped.  He  was  waiting  for 
reinforcements  and  ammunition  supplies.  At  the  first 
news  of  the  massacres,  a  large  number  of  citizens  had  im- 
pressed their  neighbors'  horses,  and  had  started  for  the 
Indian  country.  Many  of  them  were  poor  riders,  and 
they  were  all  poorly  armed.  They  were  without  military 
organization  and  drill,  and  were  felt  to  be  an  element  of 
weakness  rather  than  strength.  A  night  or  two  before  I 
reached  the  camp,  a  couple  of  shots  had  been  fired,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  by  Indians.  The  drum  beat  the 
"  long  roll,"  and  the  men  that  formed  this  "  string-bean 
cavalry,"  as  they  were  called,  crawled  under  the  wagons. 
The  next  morning  many  of  them  had  had  a  clairvoyant 
communication  with  their  families  at  home,  and  learned 
that  their  wives  were  sick.  They  were  permitted  to  de- 
part. 

Three  days  before,  a  detachment  of  cavalry  and  in- 
fantry had  been  sent  up  as  far  as  the  Lower  Sioux  Agency, 
to  find  and  bury  the  dead.  They  had  done  their  work, 
as  they  supposed,  and  crossed  back  to  the  north  side  of 
the  Minnesota,  without  seeing  any  Indians.  As  the  sun 
was  setting  on  that  Sabbath  evening,  they  ascended  the 
hill  and  made  their  camp  on  the  top  of  the  Birch  Coolie 
bluff.  But  the  Sioux  had  discovered  them,  and  that 
night  they  were  surrounded  by  twice  their  own  number 
of  the  enemy.  In  the  early  morning  the  attack  was 
made  and  kept  up  all  day.  The  report  of  the  musketry 
was  heard  at  Gen.  Sibley's  camp,  eighteen  miles  away, 
but  the  reverberation  made  by  the  Minnesota  hills  placed 


166  MARY    AND    I. 

the  conflict  apparently  within  six  or  eight  miles.  A  de- 
tachment sent  to  their  relief  soon  returned,  because  after 
they  had  gone  a  short  distance,  they  could  hear  nothing. 
But  the  firing  still  continued,  and  another  detachment 
with  a  howitzer  was  sent,  with  orders  to  go  on  until  the 
absent  ones  were  found. 

The  sun  was  low  when  a  messenger  came  from  the 
troops  last  sent.  The  Indians  were  in  such  large  force 
that  they  did  not  dare  risk  a  conflict,  and  so  had  retired 
to  the  prairie.  Gen.  Sibley's  whole  force  was  then  put 
in  readiness,  and  we  had  a  night  march  up  to  Birch 
Coolie.  The  relief  detachment  was  reached,  and  an 
hour  or  two  of  rest  obtained  before  the  morning  light. 

When  our  camp  was  in  motion  the  Indians  came 
against  us  and  surrounded  us;  but  soon  perceiving  that 
the  force  was  not  what  they  had  seen  the  night  before, 
they  commenced  making  their  escape,  and  we  marched 
on  to  the  original  camp.  It  was  a  sad  sight — dead  men 
and  dead  horses  lying  in  the  hastily-dug  breastworks. 
Twelve  men  were  found  dead  whom  we  buried  in  one 
grave.  Thirty  or  forty  were  wounded,  and  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  ninety  horses  were  lying  dead.  The  camp 
had  suffered  greatly  for  want  of  water,  as  the  Indians  had 
cut  them  off  entirely  from  the  stream. 

This  defeat  showed  more  clearly  than  before  the  neces- 
sity of  being  well  prepared,  before  an  advance  was  made 
upon  the  hostile  Sioux.  It  also  served  to  arouse  Minne- 
sota thoroughly — a  number  of  the  killed  and  wounded 
in  this  battle  were  St.  Paul  men.  But  the  middle  of 
September  had  come  and  gone  before  Gen.  Sibley  felt 
ready  to  move  up  the  river.  In  the  meantime,  while  we 
were  still  at  Ridgely,  Simon  Anawangmane  came  down 
by  land,  and  brought  Mrs.  Newman  and  her  children  to 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.        167 

our  camp.  And  Lorenzo  Lawrence  brought  in  canoes 
Mrs.  De  Camp  and  children  and  others. 

Mrs.  Newman  had  been  taken  captive  by  the  Lower 
Sioux,  and  when  they  reached  the  Yellow  Medicine,  she 
was  apparently  allowed  by  those  who  had  her  to  go 
where  she  pleased.  One  day  she  came  to  Simon's  tent, 
and  hearing  them  sing  and  pray,  she  felt  like  trusting 
herself  and  children  rather  to  Simon  than  to  the  others. 
When  the  camp  started  to  go  farther  north,  Simon  stayed 
behind,  and  then  placing  Mrs.  N.  and  her  children  in  his 
one-horse  wagon,  and  hitching  to  his  horse,  he  and  his 
son  brought  them  down.  Mrs.  De  Camp's  husband  had 
been  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Birch  Coolie,  and 
had  died  only  a  couple  of  days  before  she  and  the  chil- 
dren were  brought  in.  Lorenzo  also  brought  with  him  a 
large  English  church  Bible,  and  my  own  personal  copy 
of  Dakota  Grammar  and  Dictionary,  which  I  prized  very 
highly. 

The  21st  of  September,  or  five  weeks  after  the  outbreak 
commenced,  we  were  marching  by  the  Lower  Sioux 
Agency  and  Red  Wood,  and  getting  an  impression  of 
what  the  entente  had  been,  in  occasionally  finding  a  dead 
body,  and  seeing  the  ruins  of  the  buildings.  The  Sioux 
were  now  watching  our  movements  closely.  Indeed, 
they  had  kept  themselves  informed  of  our  motions  all 
along.  It  was  this  day,  at  the  Red  Wood,  John  Otherday 
went  into  a  plum-orchard  and  left  his  horse  a  little  ways 
out.  One  of  the  hostiles  who  had  been  hid  there  jumped 
on  it  and  rode  off.  This  made  Otherday  greatly  ashamed. 
The  night  of  the  22d  we  camped  on  the.  margin  of  Wood 
Lake,  within  three  miles  of  the  Yellow  Medicine.  Here 
we  were  to  rest  the  next  day  and  wait  for  a  train  that  was 
behind. 


168  MARY   AND    I. 

At  the  Yellow  Medicine  were  fields  of  corn  and  pota- 
toes, and  some  of  our  men  were  anxious  to  add  to  their 
store  of  provisions.  Accordingly,  before  our  breakfast 
was  over  at  Gen.  Sibley's  tent,  some  soldiers  in  a  wagon 
were  fired  upon  and  two  of  them  killed  by  Sioux  con- 
cealed in  a  little  ravine  about  a  half  a  mile  from  our  camp. 
This  brought  on  the  battle.  Almost  immediately  the 
hills  around  were  seen  to  be  covered  with  Indians  on  foot 
and  on  horseback.  The  battle  lasted  for  two  or  three 
hours.  The  Sioux  had  compelled  every  man  in  their  camp, 
which  was  twenty  miles  above,  to  come  down,  except 
John  B.  Renville.  They  were  playing  their  last  card, 
and  they  lost.  When  it  was  over  we  gathered  up  and 
buried  sixteen  dead  and  scalped  Indians,  and  four  of  our 
own  men.  Besides,  we  had  a  large  number  of  wounded 
soldiers.  This  battle  made  H.  H.  Sibley  a  brigadier- 
general. 

Thus  the  Indians  were  beaten  and  retired.  During 
the  fight  John  Otherday  captured  a  Dakota  pony,  and  so 
made  good  the  loss  of  his  stolen  horse.  Simon  Anawang- 
mane  was  wounded  in  the  foot  in  passing  out  to  the 
hostile  Sioux  and  back  to  our  camp;  and  the  younger 
Simon  was  brought  in  wounded,  and  died  some  days 
afterward.  The  day  following  this  battle,  our  camp  was 
removed  to  a  point  beyond  the  mission  station  at  Hazel- 
wood.  As  I  rode  down  to  see  the  ruins  of  our  buildings, 
some  of  our  soldiers  were  emptying  a  cache  near  where 
our  house  had  stood.  The  books  they  threw  out,  I  found, 
were  from  my  own  library.  A  part  of  these,  and  some 
other  things,  which  were  in  good  condition,  I  secured. 
They  had  been  buried  by  our  friends. 

The  next  day  was  the  26th  of  September,  when  we 
pushed  on  to  Camp  Release,  where  the  friendly  Dakotas 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          169 

were  encamped.  The  hostiles,  and  such  as  feared  to 
remain,  had  fled  to  the  British  Possessions.  The  friendly 
Indians  had  by  some  means  come  into  the  possession  of 
almost  all  the  captive  white  woman  and  children.  One 
of  our  chief  objects  in  pursuing  the  campaign  had  been 
to  prevent  the  killing  of  these  captives.  Little  Crow  had 
written  to  General  Sibley  that  he  had  many  captives;  and 
General  Sibley  had  replied,  "  I  want  the  captives." 

Now  they  came  into  our  hands,  nearly  a  hundred,  be- 
sides half-breeds,  many  of  whom  had  been  in  a  kind  of 
captivity.  The  white  women  had  dressed  up  as  well  as 
they  could  for  the  occasion,  but  many  of  them  only 
showed  their  white  relationship  by  the  face  and  hands 
and  hair — they  were  dressed  like  Indians.  It  was  a  time 
of  gladness  for  us.  White  men  stood  and  cried  for  joy. 
We  took  them  all  to  our  camp,  and  wrapped  them  up  as 
well  as  we  could.  Some  of  the  women  complained  because 
we  did  not  furnish  women's  clothing;  but  that  was  un- 
reasonable. This  was  Camp  Release. 

Mr.  Amos  W.  Huggins  was  the  eldest  child  of  Alexan- 
der G.  Huggins,  who  had  accompanied  Dr.  Williamson  to 
the  Sioux  country  in  1835.  Amos  was  born  in  Ohio,  and 
was  at  this  time  over  thirty  years  old.  He  was  married, 
and  two  children  blessed  their  home,  which,  for  sometime 
before  the  outbreak,  had  been  at  Lac-qui-parle,  near 
where  the  town  of  that  name  now  stands.  It  was  then  an 
Indian  village  and  planting  place,  the  principal  man  being 
Wakanmane — Spirit  Walker,  or  Walking  Spirit.  If  the 
people  of  the  village  had  been  at  home,  Mr.  Huggins  and 
his  family,  which  included  Miss  Julia  La  Framboise,  who 
was  also  a  teacher  in  the  employ  of  the  government, 
would  have  been  safe.  But  in  the  absence  of  Spirit 
Walker's  people,  three  Indian  men  came — two  of  them 


170  MARY    AND    I. 

from  the  Lower  Sioux  Agency — and  kilted  Mr.  Huggins 
and  took  from  the  house  such  things  as  they  wanted. 

The  women  and  children  were  left  uninjured.  But 
after  they  had,  in  a  hasty  manner,  buried  the  father  and 
husband,  whither  should  they  go  for  protection?  At 
first  they  thought  to  find  safety  with  a  French  and  half- 
breed  family  living  across  the  Minnesota,  where  our  old 
mission  house  had  been.  But  there,  for  some  reason,  they 
were  coldly  received.  Soon  the  brother  of  Julia  La 
Framboise  came  up  from  Little  Crow's  camp  and  took  her 
down.  Spirit  Walker  had  now  returned,  and  Mrs. 
Huggins  took  refuge  in  his  friendly  teepee,  where  she 
found  a  welcome,  and  as  good  a  home  as  they  could  make 
for  her  and  her  fatherless  children. 

Spirit  Walker  would  probably  have  attempted  to  take 
them  to  the  white  soldiers'  camp,  if  she  had  been  decided 
that  that  was  the  wisest  course.  But  Mrs.  Haggins  was 
timid,  and  preferred  rather  that  her  Dakota  protector 
should  decide  which  was  the  best  way.  And  so  it  hap- 
pened, that  when  the  flight  took  place,  Spirit  Walker's 
folks  generally  were  drawn  into  the  swirl,  and  Mrs.  H. 
found  herself  on  the  journey  to  Manitoba. 

Immediately  after  we  had  reached  Camp  Release,  and 
had  learned  the  state  of  things,  I  presented  the  matter  to 
Gen.  Sibley,  whereupon,  the  same  night,  he  authorized 
the  selection  of  four  Dakota  young  men  to  be  sent  after 
Mrs.  Huggins.  ROBERT  HOPKINS,  DANIEL  RENVILLE, 
ENOS  GOOD  HAIL,  and  MAKES  HIMSELF  RED  were  sent 
on  this  mission,  which  they  fulfilled  as  expeditiously  as 
possible.  In  a  few  days  we  were  gladdened  by  the 
sight  of  Mrs.  Huggins  and  her  two  children,  and  a  child 
of  a  German  woman,  which  they  also  brought  in.  The 
mother  was  with  us,  and  was  overjoyed  to  find  her  little 
girl. 


FORTY  TEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          171 

While  these  things  were  taking  place  on  the  Upper 
Minnesota,  MARTHA,  now  Mrs.  Morris,  still  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  events,  was  in  St.  Anthony,  writing 
the  following  letter  to  the  "  Cincinnati  Christian  Herald:" 

In  fancied  security  we  haa  dwelt  under  our  own  vine  and  fig- 
tree,  knowing  naught  of  the  evil  which  was  to  come  upon  us, 
until  the  very  night  of  the  18th  of  August,  1862.  Friendly  In- 
dians,  who  knew  something  of  the  evil  intent  of  chiefs  and 
braves,  had  given  Miss  Jane  Williamson  hints  concerning  it, 
during  that  day.  More  than  that  they  dared  not  tell.  But  few 
of  our  own  Indians  had  known  much  more  respecting  the  com- 
ing storm  than  ourselves.  "When  intelligence  came  of  the  bloody 
work  which  that  morning's  sun  had  looked  upon,  at  the  Lower 
Sioux  Agency,  thirty-five  miles  below,  our  good  friends  came  to 
us,  and  in  an  agony  of  fear  for  our  lives  and  for  theirs,  besought 
us  to  flee.  We  would  certainly  be  killed,  and  they  would  be  in 
danger  on  account  of  our  presence.  Some  believed,  but  more 
doubted.  We  had  heard  Indian  stories  before ;  by  morning  light 
we  were  confident  this  too  would  prove  nothing  but  a  drunken 
frolic,  and  we  would  only  lose  our  worldly  possessiens  if  we 
should  depart.  The  believing  ones  made  ready  a  little  clothing 
and  provision  in  case  of  need.  The  principal  men  gathered  in 
council.  Could  they  protect  us?  They  would  try,  at  least  until 
the  morning.  We  sang  "God  is  the  refuge  of  his  saints,"  com- 
mended ourselves  to  our  Father's  safe-keeping,  and  most  of  us 
retired  to  rest.  An  hour  or  two  passed  in  peaceful  slumber  by 
some — in  nervous  anxiety  by  others. 

One  o'clock  had  passed— a  heavy  knock  at  the  door.  Our  friends 
had  learned  more  of  the  extent  of  the  outbreak,  and  felt  that  their 
protection  would  be  worse  than  useless.  "  If  you  regard  your 
own  lives  or  ours,  you  must  go."  To  their  entreaties  we  yielded, 
and  made  hasty  preparations  to  depart.  In  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
we  had  left  our  homes  forever.  Our  company  consisted  of  my 
father's  family,  Mr.  Cunningham's,  and  Mr.  Pettijohn's,  and  a 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore  from  New  Jersey,  in  all  twenty-one  persons. 
Mr.  Cunningham  had  charge  of  the  Hazelwood  Boarding  School* 
and  Mr.  Pettijohn,  a  former  missionary  under  the  American 
Board,  had  been  recently  a  Government  teacher,  twelve  miles  far- 


172  MA.KY   AND    I. 

ther  up  the  river.  He  had  been  moving  his  family  down  that 
day,  on  their  way  to  St  Peter.  As  he  drove  my  father's  team 
along,  with  the  last  of  his  goods,  early  in  the  evening,  he  was 
met  by  two  Indians,  who  took  the  horses  from  him,  and  set  him 
on  an  inveterately  lazy  horse  belonging  to  another  Indian.  Con- 
sequently our  family  had  but  a  light  buggy  and  one  horse  left, 
which  was  to  aid  Mr  Cunningham's  two-horse  team  in  carrying 
the  all  of  the  party.  Room  was  found  in  the  conveyances  for  the 
smaller  children  and  all  the  women,  except  my  sister  Anna  and 
myself.  We  walked  with  the  men  and  boys.  Our  Indian  friends 
guided  us  through  the  woods,  the  thick  and  tangled  underbrush, 
the  tall,  rank  grass  drenched  with  dew,  to  the  river  side,  where 
we  were  quickly  and  carefully  conveyed  to  a  wooded  island,  and 
then  our  guides  left  us.  One  of  them,  Enos  Good-Voice-Hail, 
was  in  the  East  some  three  or  four  years  since — a  brave,  hand- 
some man,  whose  eye  you  cbuld  not  but  trust.  Our  teams  could 
not  cross  at  that  place,  so  they  were  kept  for  us  until  the  morn- 
ing. All  the  rest  of  that  weary  night  we  sat  on  the  damp  grass, 
cold  and  dreary,  wondering  what  the  day  dawn  would  bring.  At 
length  the  morning  came.  My  father  and  Mr.  Cunningham  pad- 
dled a  TOSS  the  river  to  learn  the  state  of  affairs.  We  found  we 
had  neglected  to  bring  the  most  of  the^provisions  prepared,  and 
wondered  what  we  should  do,  even  if  permitted  to  go  back  home 
after  a  day  or  so  spent  on  that  island.  While  still  talking,  a 
woman  hailed  us  from  the  opposite  bank,  who,  as  we  found 
shortly,  had  brought  several  loaves  of  bread  and  some  meat  on 
her  back,  all  the  way  from  our  houses.  We  received  it  as  a  God- 
send— and  soon  after,  my  father  returning,  brought  some  more 
provision,  which  another  friend  had  secured  for  us  A  longer, 
drearier  day  was  never  passed — its  every  hour  seemed  a  day. 
The  rain  came  down  and  drenched  us.  My  father  went  back  and 
forth  from  the  island  to  a  village  where  the  friendly  Indians 
were  mostly  gathered,  to  find  out  what  had  been,  and  what  could 
be  done.  We  learned  that  Dr.  Williamson  had  sent  away  the 
most  of  his  family,  considering  it  his  duty  still  to  remain;  that 
his  wife  and  sister  were  with  him ;  but  the  others,  with  a  number 
of  cattle  for  future  need,  were  secreted  in  the  woods,  a  mile  or 
two  below  us. 
By  noon  our  houses  had  been  rifled,  and  gradually  the  idea 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  173 

fixed  itself  upon  us  that  we  must  leave  if  possible.  We  made 
arrangements  to  join  Dr.  Williamson's  family,  and  about  three 
o'clock  took  up  our  line  of  march,  each  carrying  some  bundles, 
having  left  on  the  island  the  only  trunk  belonging  to  the  party. 
For  more  than  a  mile  we  walked  along,  with  difficulty  keeping 
our  footing  on  the  side-hills,  which  we  chose  for  safety.  When 
fairly  out  on  the  bluffs,  we  came  up  with  one  of  the  two  teams, 
in  charge  of  Mr.  Hunter,  Dr.  Williamson's  son-in-law.  The  bag- 
gage being  transferred  from  our  shoulders  to  the  wagon,  the 
feebler  ones  were  provided  with  seats,  while  the  stronger  marched 
on.  Soon  we  came  up  with  the  remainder  of  the  party — Dr.  Wil- 
liamson's family,  and  half  a  dozen  persons  from  one  of  the 
Government  mills,  who  had  cast  in  their  lot  with  them.  We 
struck  out  on  the  prairie  to  save  ourselves  if  there  was  any  chance. 
Our  march  was  shortly  rendered  unpleasant  by  a  fiercely-driving 
rain-storm,  from  the  soaking  effects  of  which  we  did  not  recover 
until  the  next  day,  though  it  had  the  good  effect  of  obliterating 
our  path.  Our  company  was  increased  by  the  arrival  of  a  Mr. 
Orr,  who  had  been  engaged  in  trading  among  the  Indians,  near 
the  place  Mr.  Pettijohn  had  resided,  and  who  had  been  shot  and 
stabbed  that  morning.  It  seemed  a  marvel  that  he  should  ever 
have  been  able  to  walk  that  far,  and  room  was  immediately  made 
for  him  in  a  wagon,  though  it  curtailed  that  of  others.  Toward 
night  we  were  overtaken  by  Mr.  Cunningham,  bringing  one  of 
his  horses  and  our  buggy,  which  he  had  succeeded  in  getting 
hold  of,  and  which  was  the  only  vehicle  belonging  to  twenty-one 
out  of  the  thirty-eight.  Night  came  on,  and  we  lay  down  on  the 
hard  earth,  with  bed  and  covering  both  scant  and  wet,  to  rest.  In 
the  morning  dawn,  after  our  usual  remembrance  of  Him  who 
ruleth  earth  and  sea,  we  went  on  our  way,  having  had  but  little 
food,  as  cooked  provisions  were  scarce,  and  we  dared  not  kindle 
a  fire  for  fear  of  attracting  attention. 

Our  day's  march  was  slow  but  steady — only  stopping  when 
necessary  to  rest  the  teams ;  and  although  we  considered  ourselves 
in  danger,  we  found  it  quite  enjoyable,  more  particularly  after  we 
and  the  grass  got  dry,  so  that  we  could  walk  with  ease.  We  had 
counted  on  having  a  fine  night's  rest  in  spite  of  our  scant  bed- 
clothing,  as  we  were  all  dry,  but  we  were  disappointed.  A  slow, 
steady  rain  fell  through  all  the  long  night,  completely  saturating 


174  MARY   AND    I. 

almost  every  article  of  bed-clothing,  and  every  person  in  the  com. 
pany.  In  that  comfortless  rain  we  drank  some  milk,  ate  a  crust 
or  two,  and  traveled  on  through  the  long,  wet  swamp  grass,  and 
the  swamps  themselves,  in  wading  which  two  or  three  of  us  be- 
came quite  accomplished.  By  noon  of  that  day,  which  was 
Thursday,  we  came  to  a  wood,  fifteen  or  sixteen  miles  east  from  a 
settlement  on  the  river,  which  was  about  twenty  miles  from 
home. 

Our  progress  had  been  very  slow — without  any  road,  the  grass 
so  wet,  and  the  teams  so  heavily  loaded.  Still  we  could  not  but 
feel  that  the  God  who  had  led  us  during  these  long  days,  would 
neither  suffer  us  to  perish  in  this  prairie  wilderness,  nor  be  taken 
by  savages.  At  this  place  we  stopped  for  the  remaining  half  day, 
killed  a  beef,  and  luxuriated  on  meat  roasted  on  sticks  held  over 
the  fire.  We  also  baked  bread  in  quite  a  primitive  style.  The 
dough  being  first  mixed  in  a  bag — flour,  water  and  salt  the  only 
ingredients — and  molded  on  a  box,  it  was  made  into  thin  cakes 
about  the  size  of  a  hand-breadth,  placed  on  forked  sticks  over  the 
fire,  to  bake  if  possible,  and  to  be  smoked  most  certainly. 

Here  our  party  was  immortalized  by  a  young  artist — a  Mr. 
Ebell — who  had  gone  up  into  our  region  of  country  a  few  days 
previous  to  our  flight,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  stereoscopic 
views.  The  next  day  we  struck  for  the  river,  coming  in  not  far 
from  a  settlement  called  Beaver,  about  six  miles  from  the  Lower 
Agency.  Mr.  Hunter  had  formerly  resided  at  the  place,  and  as 
we  had  not  at  the  time  the  remotest  idea  of  the  extent  of  the 
massacres,  he  drove  in  to  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  the  set- 
tlers. He  saw  no  signs  of  any  dead  bodies,  but  two  or  three 
Indians  employed  in  pillaging,  informed  him  that  all  the  people 
had  gone  to  Fort  Ridgely,  and  advised  him  to  hasten  there,  or 
some  other  Indians  would  kill  him  When  just  starting  on  after 
our  noon  rest,  some  one  spied  a  team  in  the  distance,  which  soon 
proved  to  be  Dr.  Williamson's,  containing  himself,  wife,  and 
sister.  Previously,  some  of  us  fancied  that  we  might  have  been 
unwise  in  fleeing,  but  when  we  saw  them,  we  knew  we  had  not 
started  too  soon.  They  left  on  Tuesday  evening,  being  assisted  to 
depart  by  two  of  the  Christian  Indians,  Simon  Anawangmane 
and  Robert  Chaske,  at  the  peril  of  their  own  lives.  They  said  they 
would  gladly  protect  them  longer,  bait  it  was  impossible. 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          175 

After  holding  council,  we  pursued  our  journey  with  the  inten- 
tion of  reaching  Fort  Ridgely  that  night;  and  when  within  nine 
or  ten  miles,  Mr.  Hunter  drove  on  to  ascertain  how  matters  stood 
there.  We  felt  ourselves  in  danger,  but  thought  if  we  were  only 
inside  the  Fort  walls,  we  would  be  safe.  The  men  shouldered 
their  arms,  the  daylight  faded,  and  we  marched  on.  In  the 
mysteriously  dim  twilight,  every  taller  clump  of  grass,  every 
blacker  hillock,  grew  into  a  blood-thirsty  Indian,  just  ready  to 
leap  on  his  foe.  All  at  once,  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  appeared 
two  horsemen  gazing  down  upon  us.  Indians!  Every  pulse 
stopped,  and  then  throbbed  on  more  fiercely..  Were  those  men, 
now  galloping  away,  sent  by  a  band  of  warriors  to  spy  out  the 
land,  or  had  they  seen  us  by  accident?  We  could  not  tell.  The 
twilight  faded,  and  the  stars  shone  out  brightly  and  lovingly. 
As  we  passed  along  we  came  suddenly  on  a  dead  boy,  some  days 
cold  and  stiff.  Death  grew  nearer,  and  as  we  marched  on,  we 
looked  up  to  the  clear  heavens  beyond  which  God  dwells,  and 
prayed  Him  to  keep  us.  When  within  a  mile  ana  a  half  of  the 
Fort,  we  met  Mr.  Hunter  returning,  who  reported  as  follows: 
He  left  the  buggy  in  his  wife's  charge,  outside  the  barracks,  and 
crawled  in  on  his  hands  and  knees.  Lieut.  Sheehan,  commander 
of  the  post,  informed  him  they  had  been  fighting  hard  for  five 
days;  the  Indians  had  withdrawn  at  seven  that  evening,  it 
being  then  between  nine,  and  ten;  that  if  not  reinforced,  they 
could  not  hold  out  much  longer.  Some  of  the  buildings  had 
been  burnt ;  they  had  then  five  hundred  women  and  children 
inside,  and  if  we  could  go  on — go!  We  went,  striking  away  out 
on  the  prairie. 

Several  of  us  girls  had  been  mostly  walking  for  the  ten  miles 
back,  but  now,  to  give  the  least  trouble,  we  climbed  on  the 
wagons  wherever  we  might  find  room  to  hold  on,  and  sat 
patiently  with  the  rest.  Ah !  if  night  of  fear  and  dread  was 
ever  spent,  that  was  one.  Every  voice  was  hushed  except  to 
give  necessary  orders;  every  eye  swept  the  hills  and  valleys 
around;  every  ear  was  intensely  strained  for  the  faintest  noise, 
expecting  momentarily  to  hear  the  unearthly  war-whoop,  and  see 
dusky  forms  with  gleaming  tomahawks  uplifted.  How  past 
actions  came  back  as  haunting  ghosts ;  how  one's  hopes  of  life 
faded  away,  away,  and  the  things  of  earth  seemed  so  little  and 


176  MAKY    AND    I. 

mean  compared  to  the  glorious  heaven  beyond!  And  yet  life 
was  so  sweet,  so  dear,  and  though  it  be  a  glorious  heaven,  this 
was  such  a  hard  way  to  go  to  it,  by  the  tomahawk  and  seal  ping- 
knife  !  Oh,  God !  our  God !  must  it  be  ?  Then  came  something 
of  resignation  to  death  itself,  but  such  a  sore  shrinking  from  the 
dishonor  which  is  worse  than  death;  and  we  could  not  but  won- 
der whether  it  would  be  a  greater  sin  to  take  one's  life  than  thus 
to  suffer.  So  the  night  wore  on,  until  two  hours  past  midnight, 
when  compelled  by  exhaustion,  we  stopped.  Some  slept  heavily, 
forgetful  of  the  danger  past  and  present,  while  others  sat  or  stood, 
inwardly  fiercely  nervous  and  excited,  but  outwardly  calm  and 
still.  Two  hours  passed ;  the  weary  sleepers  were  awakened  by 
the  weary  watchers,  and  as  quietly  as  possible  the  march  was 
renewed.  It  was  kept  up  until  about  nine  in  the  day,  when  we 
struck  the  Fort  Ridgely  and  Henderson  road. 

Having  traveled  thus  far  without  being  pursued,  we  felt  our- 
selves comparatively  safe.  I  am  sure  there  was  not  one  who  did 
not  in  heart  join  in  the  song  and  prayer  of  thanksgiving  which 
went  up  from  that  lone  prairie  land,  however  much  we  may  have 
forgotten  or  murmured  since.  "Jehovah  hath  triumphed;  his 
people  are  free,  are  free,"  seemed  to  ring  through  the  air.  As 
we  pursued  our  journey,  we  noticed  dense  columns  of  smoke 
springing  up  along  the  river  with  about  the  same  rapidity  we 
traveled,  which  we  afterward  learned  were  grain  stacks  fired  by 
Indians.  >/We  rested  for  the  night  near  a  house,  some  fifteen  miles 
from  Henderson,  from  which  the  people  had  fled.  Here  we  felt 
safe  ;  but  subsequently  learned  that  we  were  not  more  than  five 
or  six  miles  from  the  Norwegian  grove,  where  that  same  day  a 
party  of  warriors  had  done  their  bloody  work.  Surely  God  led 
us  and  watched  over  us. 

The  next  day  being  the  Sabbath,  we  went  on  only  as  far  as  we 
deemed  necessary  for  perfect  safety.  Toward  evening  my  father 
held  divine  service,  which  was  almost  the  only  outward  reminder 
that  it  was  the  Lord's  Day.  People  coming  and  going— bustle 
here,  there  and  everywhere— so  different  from  our  last  quiet 
Sabbath  at  home,  the  last  time  we  and  our  dear  Indians  gathered 
together  around  the  table  of  our  Lord,  and  perhaps  the  last  time 
we  ever  shall,  until  we  meet  in  the  kingdom.  The  next  morning 
our  party  separated,  our  family,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moore,  Mrs. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE   SIOUX.  177 

Williamson  and  second  daughter,  and  two  or  three  others,  con- 
tinuing on  the  Henderson  road,  and  the  rest  striking  across  to 
St.  Peter,  where  Dr.  Williamson  has  found  abundant  work  in 
the  hospitals.  Near  there  his  family  expect  to  remain  during 
the  winter. 

We  arrived  that  afternoon  in  Henderson,  a  town  a  hundred 
miles  from  home,  and  we  had  been  a  week  on  the  way.  "  Why, 
I  thought  you  were  all  killed !"  was  the  first  greeting  of  every 
one.  A  shoe  store  was  hunted  up  before  we  proceeded  to  Shako- 
pee,  having  first  bidden  a  God-speed  to  our  friends,  Mr.  aad  Mrs. 
Moore.  By  this  time  some  of  us  "  young  folks  "  had  acquired 
such  a  liking  for  walking,  that  we  consider  it  superior  to  any 
other  mode  of  locomotion  to  this  day;  and  if  it  had  not  been  that 
we  were  so  ragged,  and  dirty  and  foot-sore,  we  should  have  pre- 
ferred to  continue  our  journey.  During  that  week  our  ideas  of 
paradise  grew  very  limited,  being  comprised  in  having  an  abun- 
dance of  water,  some  clean  clothes,  plenty  to  eat,  and  a  nice  bed 
to  sleep  in. 

Since  our  entering  Shakopee  we  have  visited  among  kind 
friends,  until  two  weeks  since,  when  we  endeavored  to  set  up 
house -keeping  in  this  town  of  St.  Anthony.  Notwithstanding 
the  kindness  of  friends  and  strangers,  we,  in  common  with  others, 
find  it  difficult  to  do  something  with  nothing,  especially  as  my 
father  is  with  the  expedition  against  the  Indians.  It  can  not  but 
be  that  we  should  look  back  lovingly  to  the  homes  we  have 
left,  which  are  all,  even  "  our  holy  and  beautiful  house"  wherein 
we  have  worshiped,  destroyed  by  fire ;  but  I  trust  that  we  all 
endeavor  to  "  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  our  goods."  "  Through 
much  tribulation  we  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  .heaven." 
Among  our  many  causes  for  thankfulness,  one  is  suggested  by 
the  verse,  "Pray  ye  that  your  flight  be  not  in  winter."  Another 
cause  is  that  there  was  so  little  loss  of  life  among  those  connected 
with  the  mission.  We  mourn  for  our  dear  friend,  Mr.  Amos 
Huggins,  son  of  a  former  missionary,  and  government  teacher 
at  Lac-qui-parle.  His  youug  wife  and  two  small  children  were 
at  last  accounts  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  as  also  Miss  Julia 
La  Framboise,  an  assistant  teacher  who  resided  in  their  family. 

Because  of  the  influential  relatives  Miss  La  Framboise  has  among 
12 


178  MAKY    AND    I. 

the  Dakotas,  we  hope  for  her,  while  for  Mrs.  Huggins  we  can 
only  pray. 

It  was  not  iny  intention,  when  I  began  this  article,  1o  enter  at 
all  into  the  causes  of  this  outbreak;'  but  what  I  have  written 
will  excite  your  indignation  against  all  Dakotas,  and  I  cannot 
bear  that  it  should  be  so.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
church  members,  as  a  whole,  have  had  no  hand  in  it.  One,  John 
Otherday,  guided  a  party  of  sixty-two  across  the  prairies.  Two 
others,  Lorenzo  Lawrence  and  Simon  Anawangmane,  have 
recently  brought  into  Fort  Ridgely  three  captive  women  and 
eleven  children ;  and  we  doubt  not  that  others  will  also  "  let  their 
light  shine" — at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  remember. 

The  Indians  have  not  been  without  excuse  for  their  evil  deeds. 
Our  own  people  have  given  them  intoxicating  drinks,  taught 
them  to  swear,  violated  the  rights  of  womanhood  among  them, 
robbed  them  of  their  dues,  and  then  insulted  them !  What  more 
would  be  necessary  to  cause  one  nation  to  rise  against  another  ? 
What  more,  I  ask.  And  yet  there  are  many  who  curse  this  peo- 
ple, and  cry,  "Exterminate  the  fiends."  Dare  we,  as  a  nation, 
thus  bring  a  curse  upon  ourselves  and  on  future  generations  ? 
Yours  truly,  MARTHA  T.  RIGGS. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  179 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1862-1863.— Military  Commission.— Excited  .  Community.— Da- 
kotas  Condemned. — Moving  Camp. — The  Campaign  Closed. — 
Findings  sent  to  the  President. — Reaching  my  Home  in  St. 
Anthony. — Distributing  Alms  on  the  Frontier. — Recalled  to 
Mankato. — The  Executions.— Thirty-eight  Hung. — Difficulty 
of  Avoiding  Mistakes.— Round  Wind.— Confessions.— The 
next  Sabbath's  Service. — Dr.  Williamson's  Work.— Learning 
to  Read. — The  Spiritual  Awakening. — The  Way  it  Came. — 
Mr.  Pond  Invited  up. — Baptisms  in  the  Prison. — The  Lord's 
Supper. — The  Camp  at  Snelling.— A  like  Work  of  Grace. — 
John  P.  Williamson. — Scenes  in  the  Garret.— One  Hundred 
Adults  Baptized. — Marvelous  in  our  Eyes. 

No  sooner  had  the  white  captives  been  brought  over 
to  our  camp,  than,  from  various  sources,  we  began  to 
hear  of  Indian  men  who  had  maltreated  these  white 
women,  or  in  some  way  had  been  engaged  in  the  massa- 
cres of  the  border.  On  the  morrow,  Gen.  Sibley  requested 
me  to  act  as  the  medium  of  communication  between 
these  women  and  himself,  inviting  them  to  make  known 
any  acts  of  cruelty  or  wrong  which  they  had  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  Dakota  men,  during  their  captivity.  The 
result  of  this  inquiry  was  the  apprehension  of  several  men 
who  were  still  in  the  Sioux  camp,  and  the  organization 
of  a  military  commission  composed  of  officers,  to  try  such 
cases.  Naturally  we  supposed  that  men  who  knew  them- 
selves guilty,  would  have  fled  to  Manitoba  with  Little 
Crow.  The  greater  number  of  such  men  had  undoubt- 


180  MARY   AND    I. 

edly  gone.  But  some  were  found  remaining  who  had 
participated  in  individual  murders,  some  who  had  abused 
white  women,  and  more  who  had  been  mixed  up  in  the 
various  raids  made  upon  the  white  settlements. 

When  the  wheels  of  this  military  commission  were  once 
put  in  motion  they  rolled  on,  as  the  victims  were  mul- 
tiplied. Besides  those  who  remained  in  the  camp  when 
the  flight  took  place,  and  supposed  that  clemency  would 
be  meted  out  to  them,  several  small  parties  of  Sioux, 
who  had  fled,  were  pursued  by  our  troops  and  "  gobbled 
up,"  as  the  camp  phrase  was.  In  all  such  cases  the 
grown  men  were  placed  in  confinement  to  await  the  ordeal 
of  a  trial.  The  revelations  of  the  white  women  caused 
great  indignation  among  our  soldiers,  to  which  must  be 
added  the  outside  pressure  coming  to  our  camp  in  letters 
from  all  parts  of  Minnesota, — a  wail  and  a  howl, — in  many 
cases  demanding  the  execution  of  every  Indian  coming 
into  our  hands.  The  result  of  these  combined  influences 
was,  that  in  a  few  weeks,  instead  of  taking  individuals 
for  trial  against  whom  some  specific  charge  could  be 
brought,  the  plan  was  adopted  to  subject  all  the  grown 
men,  with  a  few  exceptions,  to  an  investigation  of  the 
Commission,  trusting  that  the  innocent  could  make  their 
innocency  appear.  This  was  a  thing  not  possible  in  the 
case  of  the  majority — especially  as  conviction  was  based 
upon  an  admission  of  being  present  at  the  battles  of  Fort 
Ridgely,  NewUlm,  Hutchinson  and  Birch  Coolie.  Almost 
all  the  Dakota  men  had  been  at  one  or  more  of  those 
places,  and  had  carried  their  guns  and  used  them.  So 
that  of  nearly  four  hundred  cases,  which  came  before  the 
Commission,  only  about  fifty  were  cleared,  twenty  were 
sentenced  to  imprisonment,  and  more  than  three  hundred 
were  condemned  to  be  hung.  The  greater  part  of  these 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH1  THE    SIOUX.  181 

were  condemned  on  general  principles,  without  any  spe- 
cific charges  proved,  such  as  under  less  exciting  and  ex- 
cited conditions  of  society,  would  have  been  demanded. 
They  were  Sioux  Indians,  and  belonged  to  the  bands  that 
had  engaged  in  the  rebellion.  Among  those  who  were 
condemned  to  be  hung  was  a  negro  called  Gusso.  By 
the  testimony  of  Indians,  through  fear  or  a  liking  to  the 
business,  he  had  rather  signalized  himself  by  the  killing 
of  white  people.  But  he  talked  French,  and  could  give 
what  appeared  to  be  accurate  and  reliable  information  in 
regard  to  a  great  many  of  the  Dakotas  who  were  brought 
before  the  Commission.  In  consequence  of  this  service, 
the  Commission  recommended  that  his  capital  punishment 
be  changed  to  imprisonment. 

More  than  a  month  passed  before  the  Court  had  fin- 
ished its  work.  In  the  meantime,  we  had  changed  our 
camp  to  the  Lower  Sioux  Agency.  From  this  point  the 
women  and  children  of  the  imprisoned  men,  together 
with  such  men  as  had  escaped  suspicion,  were  sent  down 
under  a  military  guard  to  Fort  Snelling,  where  they,  being 
about  fifteen  hundred  souls,  were  kept  through  the 
winter. 

At  the  close  of  their  work,  the  Military  Commission 
turned  over  their  Findings  and  condemnations  to  Gen. 
Sibley  for  his  approval.  During  the  few  days  in  which 
these  passed  under  review,  the  principles  on  which  the 
condemnations  were  based  were  often  under  discussion. 
Many  of  them  had  no  good  foundation.  And  they  were 
only  justified  by  the  considerations  that  they  would  be 
reviewed  by  a  more  disinterested  authority,  and  that  the 
condemnations  were  demanded  by  the  people  of  Min- 
nesota. Gen.  Sibley  pardoned  one  man,  because  he  was 


182  MAKY    AND    I. 

a  near  relative  of  John  Otherday,  who  had  done  so  much 
for  white  people. 

The  campaign  was  now  closed.  The  work  of  the  Mil- 
itary Commission  was  completed.  It  remained  now  to 
go  into  winter  quarters,  to  guard  the  prisoners,  and  to 
await  such  orders  as  should  come  from  the  President.  It 
was  November  when  the  camp  was  removed  from  the 
Lower  Sioux  Agency  to  Mankato.  On  our  way  thither 
we  must  needs  pass  by  or  through  New  Ulm.  As  we 
approached  that  place,  with  400  manacled  Sioux,  carried 
in  wagons,  and  guarded  by  lines  of  infantry  and  cavalry? 
the  people  came  out  and  made  an  insane  attack  upon  the 
prisoners.  Gen.  Sibley  thought  it  best  to  yield  so  far  to 
the  wishes  of  the  Germans,  as  to  pass  outside  of  the 
town. 

On  our  reaching  Mankato,  I  was  released  from  further 
service  in  the  camp,  and  sent  down  to  carry  the  condem- 
nations to  the  military  headquarters  at  Saint  Paul.  At 
midnight  the  stage  reached  Minneapolis.  My  own  family 
were  across  the  river,  living  in  a  hired  house  in  St.  An- 
thony. I  had  received  very  particular  information  as  to 
how  I  should  find  the  place,  and  went  directly  there;  but 
as  no  answer  was  made  to  my  knocking,  I  went  back  to 
the  church,  to  see  if  I  could  have  made  a  mistake.  After 
trying  in  other  directions,  I  aroused  Rev.  Mr.  Sercombe> 
who  insisted  on  going  with  me  to  the  place  where  I  had 
stood  knocking. 

Mary  and  the  children  were  comfortably  housed.  Mrs- 
Sophronia  McKee,  the  wife  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, had  been  a  fellow  townswoman  and  special  friend 
of  Mary  in  their  younger  years.  This  was  a  guarantee 
of  help  in  this  time  of  need.  They  found  friends.  Do- 
nations of  little  things  to  help  them  commence  house- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         183 

keeping  came  in  from  interested  hearts.  Friends  farther 
away  sent  boxes  of  clothing  and  in  some  cases  money;  so 
that,  after  more  than  two  months,  I  found  them  in  com- 
fortable circumstances. 

All  along  the  line  of  the  frontier,  where  the  Sioux 
raids  had  been  made,  were  many  families  who  had  re- 
turned to  desolated  homes.  Many  persons  all  over  the 
country  took  a  deep  interest  in  this  class  of  sufferers,  and 
money  contributions  were  made  for  their  relief.  The 
Friends  in  Indiana  and  elsewhere  had  placed  their  con- 
tributions in  the  hands  of  Friend  W.  W.  Wales,  of  Saint 
Anthony.  Here  was  a  service  in  which  I  could  engage, 
and  find  relief  from  the  strain  of  the  campaign  and  the 
condemnations.  Accordingly,  I  undertook  to  hunt  up 
needy  families  in  the  neighborhood  of  Glencoe  and 
Hutchinson,  and  to  dispense  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  this 
benevolent  fund.  One  day,  as  I  was  traveling  in  my  one- 
horse  buggy  over  the  snow  between  Glencoe  and  Hutch- 
inson, I  was  overtaken  by  a  messenger  from  Gen.  Sibley, 
asking  me  to  report  to  Col.  Miller,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  prison  at  Mankato,  to  be  present  and  give  assistance 
at  the  time  of  the  executions. 

As  a  matter  of  duty  I  obeyed.  From  my  youth  up  it 
had  been  a  determination  of  mine,  never  to  go  to  see  a 
fellow-being  hung.  No  curiosity  could  have  taken  me. 
Rather  would  I  have  gone  the  other  way.  But,  if  I  could 
be  of  service  to  Indian  or  white  man,  in  preventing  mis- 
takes, and  furthering  the  ends  of  justice  and  righteousness, 
my  own  feelings  should  be  held  in  abeyance  and  made  to 
work  in  the  line  of  duty. 

On  receiving  the  papers  transmitted  from  the  Military 
Commission,  President  Lincoln  had  placed  them  in  the 
hands  of  impartial  men,  with  instructions  to  report  the 


184  MARY    AND    I. 

cases  which,  according  to  the  testimony,  were  convicted 
of  participation  in  individual  murders,  or  in  violating 
white  women.  Acting  under  these  instructions,  thirty- 
nine  cases  were  reported,  and  these  were  ordered  by  the 
President  to  be  executed.  But  among  so  many  it  was  a 
matter  of  much  difficulty  to  identify  all  the  cases.  Among 
the  condemned  there  were  several  persons  of  the  same 
name — three  or  four  Chaskays,  two  or  three  Washe- 
choons.  In  the  findings  of  the  Commission  they  were  all 
numbered,  and  the  order  for  the  executions  was  given  in 
accordance  with  these  numbers.  But  no  one  could 
remember  which  number  attached  to  which  person.  The 
only  certain  way  of  avoiding  mistakes  was  by  examining 
closely  the  individual  charges.  To  Joseph  R.  Brown, 
who,  better  than  any  other  one  man,  knew  all  these  con- 
demned men — and  he  did  not  recognize  all  perfectly — 
was  mainly-committed  the  work  of  selecting  those  who 
were  named  to  be  executed.  Extraordinary  care  was 
meant  to  be  used;  but  after  it  was  all  over,  when  we 
came  to  compare  their  own  stories  and  confessions,  made 
a  day  or  two  before  their  death,  with  the  papers  of  con- 
demnation, the  conviction  was  forced  upon  us  that  two 
mistakes  had  occurred. 

The  separation  was  effected  on  Monday  morning,  the 
men  to  be  executed  being  taken  from  the  log  jail,  in 
which  all  were  confined,  to  an  adjoining  stone  building, 
where  they  were  additionally  secured  by  being  chained 
to  the  floor.  Col.  Miller  then  informed  them  of  the  order 
of  the  President,  that  they  should  be  hung  on  the  Thursday 
following,  and  they  were  advised  to  prepare  themselves 
for  that  event.  They  were  at  liberty  to  select  such  spir- 
itual counsel  as  they  desired.  Dr.  Williamson  was  there 
as  a  Protestant  minister,  and  Father  Ravaux,  of  Saint 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  185 

Paul,  as  a  Catholic  priest.  They  were  advised  not  to 
select  me,  as  I  was  acting  interpreter  for  the  government. 
More  than  three- fourths  of  the  whole  number  selected  Mr. 
Ravaux.  This  was  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  one  of 
the  Campbells,  a  half-breed  and  a  Roman  Catholic,  was 
of  the  number.  Some  days  before  this,  Dr.  Williamson 
had  baptized  Hound  Wind,  who  was  reprieved  by  an 
order  from  the  President,  which  came  only  a  day  or  so 
before  the  executions,  reducing  the  number  to  thirty- 
eight. 

Of  this  man  Hound  "Wind  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that 
he  was  condemned  on  the  testimony  of  a  German  boy, 
who  affirmed  that  he  was  the  man  who  killed  his  mother. 
But  it  was  afterward  shown  by  abundance  of  testimony, 
that  Hound  Wind  was  not  there. 

As  the  time  of  their  death  approached,  they  manifested 
a  desire,  each  one,  to  say  some  things  to  their  Dakota 
friends,  and  also  to  the  white  people.  I  acceded  to  their 
request,  and  spent  a  whole  day  with  them,  writing  down 
such  things  as  they  wished  to  say.  Many  of  them,  the 
most  of  them,  took  occasion  to  affirm  their  innocence  of 
the  charges  laid  against  them  of  killing  individuals.  But 
they  admitted,  and  said  of  their  own  accord,  that  so  many 
white  people  had  been  killed  by  the  Dakotas,  that  public 
and  general  justice  required  the  death  of  some  in  return. 
This  admission  was  in  the  line  of  their  education.  Per- 
haps it  is  not  too  much  to  call  it  an  instinct  of  humanity. 

The  executions  took  place.  Arrangements  -were  made 
by  which  thirty-eight  Dakota  men  were  suspended  in  mid- 
air by  the  cutting  of  one  rope.  The  other  prisoners,, 
through  crevices  in  the  walls  of  their  log  prison-house,  saw 
them  hung.  And  they  were  deeply  affected  by  it;  albeit 


186  MARY    AND    I. 

they  did  not  show  their  feelings  as  white  men  would  have 
done,  under  like  circumstances. 

At  the  close  of  the  week,  Dr.  Williamson,  finding  him- 
self quite  worn  out  with  abundant  labors,  returned  to  St. 
Peter  to  rest  in  his  family.  The  Sabbath  morning  came. 
The  night  before  a  fresh  snow  had  fallen  nearly  a  foot 
deep.  Col.  Miller  thought  it  was  only  humane  to  let  the 
prisoners  go  out  into  the  yard  on  that  day,  to  breathe 
the  fresh  air.  And  so  it  was,  we  gathered  in  the  middle 
of  that  inclosure,  and  all  that  company  of  chained  men 
stood,  while  we  sang  hymns  and  prayed  and  talked  of 
God's  plan  of  saving  men  from  death.  To  say  that  they 
listened  with  attention  and  interest  would  not  convey  the 
whole  truth.  Evidently,  their  fears  were  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  they  were  eager  to  find  out  some  way  by 
which  the  death  they  apprehended  could  be  averted. 
This  was  their  attitude.  It  was  a  good  time  to  talk  to 
them  of  sin — to  tell  them  of  their  sins.  It  was  a  good 
time  to  unfold  to  them  God's  plan  of  saving  from  sin — to 
tell  them  God's  own  son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  died  to 
save  them  from  their  sins,  if  they  would  only  believe.  A 
marvelous  work  of  grace  was  already  commencing  in  the 
prison. 

The  next  day  after  the  Sabbath  I  left  Mankato,  and 
returned  to  my  family  in  Saint  Anthony,  where  I  spent 
the  remaining  part  of  the  winter,  partly  in  preparing 
school-books,  for  which  there  arose  a  sudden  demand, 
and  all  we  had  on  hands  were  destroyed  in  the  outbreak; 
and  partly  in  helping  on  the  spiritual  and  educational 
work  in  the  camp  at  Fort  Snelling.  But  Dr.  Williamson, 
living  as  he  did  in  St.  Peter,  gave  his  time  during  the 
winter  to  teaching  and  preaching  to  the  men  in  the 
prison.  Immediately  on  their  reaching  Mankato,  he  and 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          187 

his  sister  came  up  to  visit  them,  and  were  glad  to  find 
them  ready  to  listen. 

The  prisoners  asked  for  books.  Only  two  copies  of  the 
New  Testament  and  two  or  three  copies  -of  the  Dakota 
hymn  book  were  found  in  prison.  Some  of  each  were 
obtained  elsewhere,  and  afterward  furnished  them,  but 
not  nearly  as  many  as  they  needed.  Some  slates  and  pen- 
cils and  writing  paper  were  provided  for  them.  And  still 
later  in  the  winter  some  Dakota  books  were  given  them. 
From  this  time  on  the  prison  became  a  school,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  such  all  through  their  imprisonment.  They 
were  all  exceedingly  anxious  to  learn.  And  the  more  their 
minds  were  turned  toward  God  and  His  word,  the  more 
interested  they  became  in  learning  to  read  and  write. 
In  their  minds,  books  and  the  religion  we  preached  went 
together. 

Soon  after  this  first  visit  of  Dr.  "Williamson,  they  began 
to  sing  and  pray  publicly,  every  morning  and  evening; 
which  they  continued  to  do  all  the  while  they  were  in 
prison.  This  they  commenced  of  their  own  accord.  At 
first  the  prayers  were  made  only  by  those  who  had  been 
church  members,  and  who  were  accustomed  to  pray;  but 
others  soon  came  forward  and  did  the  same. 

Before  the  executions,  Robert  Hopkins,  who  was,  at 
that  time,  the  leader  in  all  that  pertained  to  worship, 
handed  to  Dr.  Williamson  the  names  of  thirty  men  who 
had  then  led  in  public  prayer.  And  not  very  long  after? 
sixty  more  names  were  added  to  the  list  of  praying  ones. 
TJiis  was  regarded  by  themselves  very  much  in  the  light 
of  making  a  profession  of  religion. 

In  a  few  weeks  a  deep  and  abiding  concern  for  them- 
selves was  manifest.  Here  were  hundreds  of  men  who 
had  all  their  life  refused  to  listen  to  the  gospel.  They 


188  MARY    AND    I. 

now  wanted  to  hear  it.  There  was  a  like  number  of  men 
who  had  refused  to  learn  to  read.  Now  almost  all  were 
eager  to  learn.  And  along  with  this  wonderful  awaken- 
ing on  the  subject  of  education,  sprang  up  the  more 
marvelous  one  of  their  seeking  after  God — some  god. 
Their  own  gods  had  failed  them  signally,  as  was  manifest 
by  their  present  condition.  Their  conjurers,  their  medi- 
cine men,  their  makers  of  wakan,  were  nonplused. 
Even  the  women  taunted  them,  by  saying,  "  You  boasted 
great  power  as  wakan  men,  where  is  it  now?"  These 
barriers,  which  had  been  impregnable  and  impenetrable, 
in  the  past,  were  suddenly  broken  down.  Their  ancestral 
religion  had  departed.  They  were  unwilling  now,  in 
their  distresses,  to  be  without  God — without  hope,  without 
faith  in  something  or  some  one.  Their  hearts  were  ach- 
ing after  some  spiritual  revelation. 

Then,  if  human  judgment  resulted  in  what  they  had 
seen  and  realized,  what  would  be  the  results  of  God's 
judgment?  If  sin  against  white  men  brought  such  death, 
what  death  might  come  to  them  by  reason  of  sin,  from 
the  Great  Wakan?  There  was  such  a  thing  as  sin,  and 
there  was  such  a  person  as  Christ,  God's  Son,  who  is  a 
Savior  from  sin.  These  impressions  were  made  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Word.  These  impressions  became  con- 
victions. The  work  of  God's  spirit  had  now  commenced 
among  them,  and  it  was  continued  all  winter,  "  deep  and 
powerful,  but  very  quiet,"  as  one  wrote. 

Some  of  these  men,  in  their  younger  days,  had  heard  the 
Mr.  Ponds  talk  of  the  white  man's  religion.  They  were 
desirous  now,  in  their  trouble,  to  hear  from  their  old 
friends,  whose  counsel  they  had  so  long  rejected.  To  this 
request,  Mr.  G.  H.  Pond  responded,  and  spent  some  days 
in  the  prison  assisting  Dr.  Williamson.  Rev.  Mr.  Hicks, 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          189 

pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Mankato,  was  also 
taken  into  their  counsels  and  gave  them  aid.  For  several 
weeks  previous,  "many  men  had  been  wishing  to  be  bap- 
tized, and  thus  recognized  as  believers  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  This  number  increased  from  day  to  day,  until 
about  three  hundred — just  how  many  could  not  afterward 
be  ascertained — stood  up  and  were  baptized  into  the 
name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  circumstaijces  were  peculiar,  the  whole  movement 
was  marvelous,  it  was  like  a  "  nation  born  in  a  day." 
The  brethren  desired  to  be  divinely  guided;  and  after 
many  years  of  testing  have  elapsed,  we  all  say  that  was 
a  genuine  work  of  God's  Holy  Spirit. 

Several  weeks  after  the  events  above  described,  in  the 
month  of  March,  I  went  up  to  Mankato  and  spent  two 
Sabbaths  with  the  men  in  prison;  and  while  there  labored 
to  establish  them  in  their  new  faith,  and  at  the  close  of 
my  visit,  by  the  request  of  Dr.  Williamson,  I  administered 
to  these  new  converts  the  Lord's  Supper.  JRobert  Hop 
kins  and  Peter  Big  Fire  had  both  been  prominent  mem- 
bers and  elders  in  Dr.  Williamson's  church  at  Pay-zhe- 
hoo-ta-ze.  Naturally  they,  with  others  who  were  soon- 
brought  to  the  front,  became  the  leaders  and  exponents 
of  Christian  faith  among  the  prisoners. 

This  first  communion  in  the  prison  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  myself.  It  began  to  throw  light  upon  the 
perplexing  questions  that  had  started  in  my  own  mind, 
as  to  the  moral  meaning  of  the  outbreak.  God's  thought 
of  it  was  not  my  thought.  As  the  heavens  were  higher 
than  the  earth,  so  his  thoughts  were  higher  than  mine.  I 
accepted  the  present  interpretation  of  the  events,  and 
thanked  God  and  took  courage.  The  Indians  had  not 
meant  it  so.  In  their  thought  and  determination,  the 


190  MARY   AND    I. 

outbreak  was  the  culmination  of  their  hatred  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  God,  who  sits  on  the  throne,  had  made  it 
result  in  their  submission  to  him.  This  was  marvelous 
in  our  eyes. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  prison  at 
Mankato,  a  very  similar  work  went  on  in  the  camp  at 
Fort  Snelling.  The  conditions  in  both  places  were  a 
good  deal  alike.  In  the  camp  as  well  as  in  the  prison, 
they  were  in  trouble  and  perplexity.  In  their  distresses 
they  were  disposed  to  call  upon  the  Lord.  Many  of  our 
church  members,  both  men  and  women,  were  in  the 
camp.  There  were  Paul,  and  Simon,  and  Antoine  Hen- 
mile,  the  elders  of  the  Hazel  wood  church,  and  Joseph 
Napayshne  of  the  Lower  Sioux  Agency.  But  the  out- 
look was  as  dark  to  them  as  it  was  to  us.  Mr.  J.  P.  Wil- 
liamson thus  describes  the  state  of  the  camp  in  the  closing 
days  of  1862: 

"  The  suspense  was  terrible.  The  ignorant  women  had 
not  seen  much  of  the  world,  and  didn't  know  anything 
about  law.  They,  however,  knew  that  their  husbands  and 
sons  had  been  murdering  the  whites,  and  were  now  in 
prison  therefor,  and  they  themselves  dependent  for  life 
on  the  mercy  of  the  whites.  The  ever-present  query  was, 
What  will  become  of  us,  and  especially  of  the  men? 
With  inquisitive  eyes  they  were  always  watching  the 
soldiers  and  other  whites  who  visited  them,  for  an  answer, 
but  the  curses  and  threats  they  received  were  little 
understood,  except  that  they  meant  no  good.  With  what 
imploring  looks  have  we  been  besought  to  tell  them  their 
fate.  Strange  reports  were  constantly  being  whispered 
around  the  camp.  Now  the  men  were  all  to  be  executed, 
of  whom  the  thirty-eight  hung  at  Mankato  was  the  first 
installment,  and  the  women  and  children  scattered  and 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  191 

made  slaves;  now  they  were  all  io  be  taken  to  a  rocky 
barren  island,  somewhere,  and  left  with  nothing  but  fish 
for  a  support;  and  again  they  were  to  be  taken  away 
down  south,  where  it  was  so  hot  they  would  all  die  of 
fever  and  ague." 

Rev.  John  P.  Williamson,  having  been  providentially 
absent  in  Ohio  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak,  returned  to 
accompany  this  camp  of  despised  and  hated  Dakotas  in 
their  journey  from  the  Lower  Sioux  Agency  to  Ft. 
Snelling,  But  it  did  not  immediately  appear  what  he 
could  do  for  them.  He  and  I  were  in  much  the  same 
condition,  looking  around  for  other  work.  He  says  of 
himself,  that  at  this  time  he  "  made  some  effort  to 
secure  a  place  as  stated  supply  in  the  neighborhood  of 
St.  Paul  or  Minneapolis,  but  was  unsuccessful;  and  then 
he  felt  such  drawings  toward  the  Indian  camp,  that  he 
took  the  nearest  available  quarters,  and  spent  the  winter 
ministering  temporally  and  spiritually  to  this  afflicted 
people." 

When,  in  the  spring  following,  they  were  taken  down 
the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Missouri  to  Crow  Creek,  he 
did  not  forsake  them,  but  staid  by  them  in  evil  and  in 
good  report,  with  the  devotion  of  a  lover.  Every  where 
and  at  all  times,  his  thoroughly  honest,  devoted  and 
unselfish  course  commanded  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
white  men  in  and  out  of  the  army.  And  his  self-aban- 
donment, to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  good  of  the 
families  of  the  men  in  prison,  begot  in  them  such  admira- 
tion and  confidence,  that  scarcely  a  prayer  was  made  by 
them,  in  all  those  four  years  of  their  imprisonment,  with- 
out the  petition  that  God  would  remember  and  bless  "  the 
one  who  is  called  John." 

The  camp  at  Snelling  was  on  the  low  ground  near  the 


192  MARY    AND    I. 

river,  where  the  steamboats  were  accustomed  to  land.  A 
high  board  fence  was  made  around  two  or  three  acres  of 
ground,  inside  of  which  the  Dakotas  pitched  their  cloth 
tents.  In  them  they  cooked  and  ate  and  slept,  and  read 
the  Bible  and  sang  and  prayed,  and  wrote  letters  to  their 
friends  in  prison. 

By  gradual  steps,  but  with  overwhelming  power,  came 
the  heavenly  visitation.  At  first  Mr.  Williamson  used  to 
meet  the  former  members  in  one  of  their  own  teepees. 
Presently  there  was  an  evident  softening  of  hearts.  Now 
news  came  of  the  awakening  among  the  prisoners  at 
Mankato.  The  teepee  would  not  contain  half  the  listen- 
ers, so  for  some  time,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  the 
meetings  were  held  in  the  campus,  then  in  a  great,  dark 
garret  over  a  warehouse,  without  other  fire  than  spiritual. 
In  that  low  garret,  when  hundreds  were  crouched  down 
among  the  rafters,  only  the  glistening  eyes  of  some  of 
them  visible  in  the  dark,  we  remember  how  the  silence 
was  sometimes  such  that  the  fall  of  a  pin  might  be  heard. 
Many  were  convicted;  confessions  and  professions  were 
made;  idols  treasured  for  many  generations  with  the 
highest  reverence,  were  thrown  away  by  the  score.  They 
had  faith  no  longer  in  their  idols.  They  laid  hold  on 
Christ  as  their  only  hope.  On  this  ground  they  were 
baptized,  over  a  hundred  adults,  with  their  children. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be  present  frequently,  and  to 
see  how  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  them,  in 
giving  them  spiritual  blessings  in  their  distresses.  There 
was  ever  a  large  and  active  sympathy  between  the  camp 
and  the  prison,  and  frequent  letters  passed  between  them. 
When,  at  one  time,  I  brought  down  several  hundred  let- 
ters from  the  prisoners,  and  told  them  of  the  wonderful 
work  there  in  progress,  it  produced  a  powerful  effect. 
In  both  camp  and  prison,  both  intellectually  and  spirit- 
ually, it  was  a  winter  of  great  advancement. 


FOKTY   YEARS   WITH   THE  SIOUX.  193 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1863-1866.— The  Dakota  Prisoners  taken  to  Davenport.— Camp 
McClellan.—  Their  Treatment— Great  Mortality.— Education 
in  Prison. — Worship. — Church  Matters. — The  Camp  at  Snel- 
ling  Removed  to  Crow  Creek. — John  P.  Williamson's  Story. 
— Many  Die. — Scouts  Camp. — Visits  to  Them. — Family 
Threads. — Revising  the  New  Testament. — Educating  Our 
Children.— Removal  to  Beloit.— Family  Matters.— Little  Six 
and  Medicine  Bottle. — With  the  Prisoners  at  Davenport. 

The  course  of  the  Mississippi  forming  the  eastern  line 
of  the  State  of  Iowa  is  from  north  to  south;  but  its  trend, 
as  it  passes  the  city  of  Davenport,  is  to  the  west;  so  that 
what  is  called  "East  Davenport"  is  a  mile  above  the  city. 
At  this  point,  in  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war,  barracks 
had  been  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the  forming 
Iowa  Regiments,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  "Camp 
McClellan." 

Thither  were  transported  the  condemned  Sioux  who 
had  been  kept  at  Mankato  during  the  winter.  On  the 
opening  of  navigation  in  the  spring  of  1863,  a  steamboat 
ascended  to  Mankato,  took  on  the  prisoners,  and,  on  reach- 
ing Fort  Snelling,  put  off  about  fifty  men  who  had  not 
been  condemned,  to  unite  their  fortunes  with  those  in  the 
camp.  The  men  under  condemnation  were  taken  down 
to  Davenport,  where,  at  Camp  McClellan,  they  were 
guarded  by  soldiers  for  the  next  three  years. 

After  a  little  while  their  irons  were  all  taken  off,  and 
they  enjoyed  comparative  liberty,  being  often  permitted 

13 


194:  MARY    AND    I. 

to  go  to  the  town  to  trade  their  bows  and  arrows  and 
other  trinkets,  and  sometimes  into  the  country  around  to 
labor,  without  a  guard.  They  never  attempted  to  make 
their  escape,  though  at  one  time  it  was  meditated  by 
some,  but  so  strongly  and  wisely  opposed  by  the  more 
considerate  ones,  that  the  plan  was  at  once  abandoned. 
Generally  the  soldiers  who  guarded  them  treated  them 
kindly.  It  was  remarked  that  a  new  company,  whether 
of  the  regular  army  or  of  volunteers,  when  assigned  to 
this  duty,  at  the  first  treated  the  prisoners  with  a  good 
deal  of  severity  and  harshness.  But  a  few  weeks  sufficed 
to  change  their  feelings,  and  they  were  led  to  pity,  and 
then  to  respect,  those  whom  they  had  regarded  as  worse 
than  wild  beasts. 

The  camp  was  not  a  pleasant  place,  except  in  summer. 
The  surroundings  were  rather  beautiful.  The  oak  groves 
of  the  hill-side  which  bordered  the  river  were  attractive. 
And  the  buildings  occupied  by  the  troops  were  comfort- 
able. But  within  the  stockade,  where  the  prisoners  were 
kept,  the  houses  were  of  the  most  temporary  kind,  through 
the  innumerable  crevices  of  which  blew  the  winter  winds 
and  storms.  Only  a  limited  amount  of  wood  was  fur- 
nished them,  which,  in  the  cold  windy  weather,  was  often 
consumed  by  noon.  Then  the  Indians  were  under  the 
necessity  of  keeping  warm,  if  they  could,  in  the  straw 
and  under  their  worn  blankets. 

In  these  circumstances,  many  would  naturally  fall  sick, 
go  into  a  decline — pulmonary  consumption,  for  which 
their  scrofulous  bodies  had  a  liking — and  die.  The  hos- 
pital was  generally  well  filled  with  such  cases.  The 
death  rate  was  very  large — more  than  ten  per  cent,  each 
year,  making  about  120  deaths  while  they  were  confined 
at  that  place.  About  one  hundred  men,  women  and 


FORTY    YEAKS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  195 

children,  who  came  afterward  into  the  hands  of  the  mili- 
tary, were  added  to  those  who  were  first  brought  down. 
These  latter  were  uncondemned.  As  some  women  had 
been  permitted  to  come  with  the  prisoners  at  the  firsf, 
and  now  more  were  added,  a  good  many  children  were 
born  there.  And  thus  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  who  were 
released,  and  returned  to  their  people  from  this  prison, 
numbered  only  about  two  hundred  and  four  score. 

For  the  first  two  years  of  their  abode  at  Davenport,  Dr. 
Williamson  had  the  chief  care  of  the  educational  and 
c'hurch  work  among  them.  During  this  time  I  only  vis- 
ited them  twice,  once  when  a  difficulty  and  misunder- 
standing had  arisen  between  Dr.  Williamson  and  a  Gen. 
Roberts,  who  at  one  time  commanded  that  department, 
the  doctor  was  obliged  to  return  to  his  home  in  St.  Peter. 
On  learning  the  fact,  I  counseled  with  Gen.  Sibley,  who 
gave  me  a  letter  to  Gen.  Roberts.  Before  I  reached 
there,  however,  Roberts  had  become  ashamed  of  his  con- 
duct, as  I  judged,  and  so  I  found  it  quite  easy  to  restore 
amicable  relations.  No  such  difficulties  occurred  there- 
after. 

For  the  prisoners  these  were  educational  years.  They 
were  better  supplied  with  books  than  they  could  be  at 
Mankato.  A  new  edition  of  our  Dakota  hymn-book  was 
gotten  out,  and  in  1865,  an  edition  of  the  Dakota  Bible 
so  far  as  translated,  besides  other  books.  The  avails  of 
their  work  in  mussel  shells  and  bows  gave  them  the  means 
of  purchasing  paper  and  books. 

With  only  a  few  exceptions,  all  in  the  prison  who  were 
adults,  professed  to  be  Christians.  A  few  had  been  bap- 
tized by  Rev.  S.  D.  Hinman,  of  the  Episcopal  church, 
who  visited  them  once  while  at  Davenport.  But  while  a 
number  were  recognized  as  members  of  that  church,  they 


196  MARY    AND    I. 

worshiped  all  together.  Morning  and  night  they  had 
their  singing  and  praving;  but  especially  at  night,  when 
they  were  not  likely  to  be  disturbed  by  any  order  from 
the  officer  in  command. 

In  church  matters  they  naturally  fell  into  classes  ac- 
cording to  their  former  clans  or  villages.  In  each  of  these 
classes  one — or  more  than  one — Hoonkayape  was  or- 
dained. He  was  the  elder  and  class  leader.-  This  ar- 
rangement was  made  by  Dr.  Williamson.  It  was  one 
step  toward  raising  up  for  them  pastors  from  themselves. 
On  our  part  it  was  a  felt  necessity,  for  we  could  not  prop- 
erly watch  over  and  care  for  these  people,  as  they  could 
watch  over  and  care  for  each  other.  So  the  work  of  edu- 
cation and  establishment  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel  was 
carried  on. 

Let  us  now  return  to  follow  for  a  little,  the  fortunes  of 
those  in  the  camp  at  Fort  Snelling.  The  winter  of  sus- 
pense had  worn  away,  and  in  the  month  of  April,  soon 
after  the  Mankato  prisoners  passed  down  into  Iowa,  those 
at  Snelling  were  placed  on  a  steamboat,  and  floated  down 
to  St.  Louis,  and" up  the  Missouri  to  Crow  Creek,  where 
they  were  told  to  make  homes.  Mr.  J.  P.  Williamson 
went  with  them,  and  remained  with  them,  during  those 
terrible  years  of  suffering  and  death.  Who  can  tell  the 
story  better  than  he? 

"As  they  look  on  their  native  hills  for  the  last  time,  a 
dark  cloud  is  crushing  their  hearts.  Down  they  go  to 
St.  Louis,  thence  up  the  Missouri  to  Crow  Creek.  But  this 
brings  little  relief,  for  what  of  the  men;  and  can  the 
women  and  children  ever  live  in  this  parched  land,  where 
neither  rain  nor  dew  was  seen  for  many  weeks? 

"The 'mortality  was  fearful.  The  shock,  the  anxiety,  the 
confinement,  the  pitiable  diet,  were  naturally  followed  by 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  197 

sickness.  Many  died  at  Fort  Snelling.  The  steamboat 
trip  of  over  one  month,  under  some  circumstances,  might 
have  been  a  benefit  to  their  health,  but  when  1,300  In- 
dians were  crowded  like  slaves  on  the  boiler  and  hurri- 
cane decks  of  a  single  boat,  and  fed  on  musty  hard  tack 
and  briny  pork,  which  they  had  not  half  a  chance  to  cook, 
diseases  were  bred  which  made  fearful  havoc  during  the 
hot  months,  and  the  1 ,300  souls  that  were  landed  at  Crow 
Creek  June  1,  1863,  decreased  to  one  thousand.  For  a 
time  a  teepee  where  no  one  was  sick  could  scarcely  be 
found,  and  it  was  a  rare  day  when  there  was  no  funeral. 
So  were  the  hills  soon  covered  with  graves:  The  very 
memory  of  Crow  Creek  became  horrible  to  the  Santees, 
who  still  hush  their  voices  at  the  mention  of  the  name. 

"  Meetings,  always  an  important  means  of  grace,  were 
greatly  multiplied.  Daily  meetings  were  commenced  at 
Fort  Snelling;  the  steamboat  was  made  a  Bethel  for  daily 
praise,  and  the  Crow  Creek  daily  prayer-meetings  were 
held  each  summer  under  booths,  which  plan  was  contin- 
ued the  first  summer  at  Niobrara.  Women's  prayer- 
meetings  were  commenced  at  Crow  Creek,  deaconesses 
being  appointed  to  have  charge  of  them.  The  children 
also  had  meetings,  conducted  by  themselves.  All  these 
means  were  blessed  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  breaking  of 
the  herculean  chains  of  Paganism." 

Soon  after  reaching  Crow  Creek,  Mr.  Williamson  called 
to  his  assistance^  Mr.  Edward  R.  Pond  and  his  wile  Mrs. 
Mary  Frances  Pond-— born  Hopkins — both  children  of 
the  old  missionaries,  who  continued  with  these  people 
until  the  year  1870. 

For  the  security  of  the  Minnesota  frontier,  and  to  fur- 
ther chastise  the  Sioux,  Military  Expeditions  were  organ- 
ized in  the  spring  an*d  summer  of  1863.  The  one  that 


198  MARY    AND    I. 

went  from  Minnesota  was  in  command  of  Gen.  H.  H. 
Sibley.  Attached  to  this  expedition  was  a  corps  of 
scouts,  forty  or  fifty  of  them  being  Dakota  men,  who  had 
in  some  way,  and  to  some  extent,  showed  themselves  to 
be  on  the  side  of  the  white  people,  at  the  time  of  the 
outbreak.  In  this  expedition  I  had  the  position  of  inter- 
preter. 

The  families  of  these  Sioux  scouts  were  sent  out  to  the 
frontier,  and  maintained  by  the  government,  not  only 
during  that  summer,  but  for  several  years.  This  was 
known  as  the  "  Scout's  Camp,"  and  the  church  among 
them  was  called  by  the  same  name,  until  1869,  when 
several  churches  were  formed  out  of  this  one,  as  they  be- 
gan to  scatter  and  settle  down  on  the  new  Sisseton  Res- 
ervation. 

In  the  summer  of  1864,  I  visited  their  camp  at  the 
head  of  the  Red  Wood.  The  next  summer  I  was  with 
them  for  a  short  time  at  the  Yellow  Medicine.  At  each 
of  these  visits  quite  a  number  of  additions  was  made  to 
the  roll  of  church  members — infants  and  grown  persons 
were  baptized,  marriages  were  solmnized,  and  ruling 
elders  were  ordained.  During  these  years  we  had  licensed 
and  ordained  as  an  evangelist,  John  B.  Renville,  who  ac- 
companied me  on  each  of  the  visits  mentioned. 

Let  ma  now  gather  up,  and  weave  in,  some  threads  of 
our  home-life.  For  three  years  Mary  and  the  children  made 
their  home  in  St.  Anthony,  now  East  Minneapolis,  in  a 
hired  house.  Our  three  boys,  at  the  commencement  of 
this  period,  being  fifteen  and  thirteen  and  seven  respect- 
ively, were  at  a  good  age  to  be  profited  by  the  schools  of 
the  town.  Thomas  and  Henry  soon  commenced  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  Latin  in  Mr.  Butterfield's  school.  While, 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  199 

to  add  to  the  family  finances^  Isabella  and  Martha,  in 
turn,  and  sometimes  both,  engaged  in  teaching. 

Mary's  health,  always  tenacious  but  never  vigorous, 
had  received  a  severe  shock  by  the  outbreak  and  what 
followed.  But  she  did  not  at  once  succumb.  Her  will- 
power was  very  strong,  which  often  proved  sufficient  to 
keep  her  up,  when  some  others  would  have  placed  them- 
selves in  the  hands  of  a  physician.  But  the  house  she 
lived  in  became  more  frail  and  worn  in  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1864,  and  she  was  obliged  to  take  some  special 
steps  toward  upbuilding.  For  some  weeks  at  the  close 
of  the  year,  when  I  was  absent,  she  was  prevailed  upon 
to  try  a  residence  at  a  water  cure,  but  without  any  per- 
manent benefit. 

Returning  from  the  military  campaign  in  the  fall  of 
1863,  when  there  seemed  to  be  no  special  call  for  my  ser- 
vices with  the  Indians,  I  addressed  myself,  for  the  next 
six  month?,  to  a  revision  and  completion  of  the  New 
Testament  in  the  Dakota  language.  It  was  a  winter  of 
very  hard  and  confining  work,  and  right  glad  was  I  when 
the  spring  came,  and  I  could  find  some  recreation  in  the 
garden. 

The  next  autumn  I  went  to  New  York  and  spent  three 
months  in  the  Bible  House,  reading  the  proof  of  our  new 
Dakota  Bible,  and  having  some  other  printing  done.  To 
the  New  Testament  above  mentioned,  Dr.  Williamson 
had  added  a  revised  Genesis  and  Proverbs.  It  was  at 
this  time,  the  Bible  Society  commenced  making  electro- 
type plates  of  our  Dakota  Scriptures.  At  this  writing — 
1878 — the  Bible  is  nearly  completed. 

As  yet,  the  Dakota  work,  while  it  had  given  each  one 
of  us  plenty  to  do,  did  not  assume  any  thing  like  a  per- 
manent shape.  Things  were  still  in  a  chaotic  state.  What 


200  MARY    AND    I. 

would  be  the  outcome,  no  one  could  tell  in  the  year  1865. 
There  was  a  time  when  I  seriously  asked  the  question, 
"  What  shall  I  do?  Shall  I  seek  some  other  work,  or  still 
wait  to  see  what  the  months  will  bring  forth?"  I  had 
even  made  it  a  subject  of  correspondence  with  Secretary 
Treat,  whether  I  might  not  turn  my  attention  partly  to 
preaching  to  white  people,  and  do  a  kind  of  half  and  half 
work.  That  plan  was  at  once  discouraged  by  Mr.  Treat; 
and  then  Mr.  G.  H.  Pond  came  to  my  relief,  giving  it  as 
his  decided  conviction  that  I  should  hold  on  to  the  Da- 
kota work.  So  that  question  was  settled. 

But  where  this  work  would  be  located  did  notthen  appear. 
There  did  not  seem  to  be  any  great  reason  why  we  should 
remain  in  St.  Anthony.  The  immediate  family  business 
was  the  education  of  our  children.  In  the  autumn  previous, 
I  had  taken  Thomas  to  Beloit,  where,  after  making  up 
some  studies,  he  had  entered  the  Freshman  class.  Could 
we  not  better  accomplish  this  part  of  our  G-od- given-trust 
by  removing  thither,  and  for  a  while  making  that  our 
home?  By  so  doing  I  might  be  farther  away  from  any 
permanent  place  of  work  among  the  Dakotas.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  I  would  be  nearer  to  the  prisoners  at 
Davenport,  and  could  relieve  Dr.  Williamson  for  the 
winter,  which  was  desired.  In  this  state  of  doubt,  it  often 
seemed  that  it  would  have  been  so  comforting  and 
satisfying  if  we  could  have  heard  the  Lord  say,  "  This  is 
the  way,  walk  ye  in  it."  But  no  such  voice  came.  How- 
ever, as  Mary  recruited  in  the  summer,  and  it  seemed 
quite  probable  she  would  be  able  to  remove,  our  judg- 
ment trended  to  Beloit,  and  I  made  arrangements  for  a 
family  home  by  the  purchase  of  a  small  cottage  and 
garden,  which  have  been  a  comfort  to  us  in  all  these  years. 

And  so,  in  the  month  of  September,  we  came   to  the 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  201 

southern  line  of  Wisconsin.  •  Anna  had  just  completed 
the  course  at  Rockford  Female  Seminary,  and  was  ready 
to  do  duty  in  our  new  home.  Martha  accepted  a  call  to 
teach  at  Mankato.  Isabella  accompanied  us  to  Beloit, 
having  under  consideration  the  question  of  going  to  China 
with  Rev.  Mark  W.  Williams.  This  decision  was  not 
fully  reached  until  the  meeting  of  the  American  Board  in 
Chicago,  in  the  fall  of  1865.  One  day  she  and  I  walked 
down  Washington  street  together,  and  talked  over  the 
subject,  and  she  gave  in  her  answer. 

In  the  early  days  of  that  year,  two  of  the  leaders  in  the 
out-break  of  1862  were  captured  from  beyond  the  British 
line,  and  after  a  trial  by  a  Military  Commission,  were 
condemned  to  be  hung.  These  men  were  commonly 
known  as  LITTLE  Six  and  MEDICINE  BOTTLE.  While  in 
Chicago  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board,  I  received  a  note 
from  Col.  McLaren,  commanding  at  Ft.  Snelling,  asking 
me  to  attend  these  men  before  their  execution.  The 
invitation  was  sent  at  their  request.  I  obeyed  the  sum- 
mons, and  spent  a  couple  of  days  with  the  condemned. 
But  while  I  was  there,  a  telegram  came  from  Washington 
giving  them  a  reprieve.  This  relieved  me  from  being 
present  when  they  were  hung,  one  month  afterward. 

The  winter  that  followed,  I  gave  to  the  prisoners  at 
Davenport.  They  had  passed  through  the  small-pox  with 
considerable  loss  of  life;  and  that  winter,  only  the  ordi- 
nary cases  of  sickness,  and  the  ordinary  number  of  deaths 
occurred.  These  were  numerous  enough.  The  confine" 
ment  of  nearly  four  years,  and  the  uncertainty,  which 
had  always  rested  upon  them  like  a  night-mare,  had  all 
along  produced  many  cases  of  decline.  And  even  when 
the  time  of  their  deliverance  drew  nigh,  and  hope  should 


202  MARY   AND    I. 

have  made  them  buoyant,  they  were  too  much  afraid  to 
hope — the  promise  was  too  good  to  be  believed. 

Before  their  release,  I  was  called  home  to  attend,  on 
the  21st  of  February,  the  marriage  of  Isabella  and  Mr. 
Williams,  and  to  bid  them  God-speed  on  their  long  jour- 
ney by  sailing  vessel  to  China. 


FORRY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  203 


CHAPTER  XV. 

1866-1869.— Prisoners  meet  their  Families  at  the  Niobrara.— 
Our  Summer's  Visitation. — At  the  Scouts'  Camp.— Crossing 
the  Prairie.— Killing  Buffalo. — At  Niobrara  — Religious 
Meetings.  —  Licensing  Natives. — Visiting  the  Omahas. — 
Scripture  Translating. — Sisseton  Treaty  at  Washington. — 
^Second  visit  to  the  Santees. — Artemas  and  Titus  Ordained. — 
Crossing  to  the  Head  of  the  Coteau.— Organizing  Churches 
and  Licensing  Dakotas.— Solomon,  Robert,  Louis,  Daniel. — 
On  Horseback  in  1868.— Visit  to  the  Santees,  Yanktons,  and 
Brules.— Gatherin  >•  at  Dry  Wood. — Solomon  Ordained. — 
Writing  "  Takoo  Wakan." — Mary's  Sickness. — Grand  Hymns. 
—Going  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow.— Death ! 

The  spring  of  1866  saw  the  prisoners  at  Davenport  re- 
leased by  order  of  the  President;  and  their  families,  which 
had  remained  at  Crow  Creek  for  three  dry  and  parched 
years,  were  permitted  to  join  their  husbands  and  brothers 
and  fathers,  at  Niobrara,  in  the  northeast  angle  of  Ne- 
braska. That  was  a  glad  and  a  sad  meeting;  but  the 
gladness  prevailed  over  the  sadness.  And  now  all  the 
Dakotas  with  whom  we  had  been  laboring,  were  again  in  a 
somewhat  normal  condition.  All  had  passed  through 
strange  trials  and  tribulations,  and  God  had  brought  them 
out  into  a  large  place.  The  prisoners  had  prayed  that 
their  chains  might  be  removed.  God  heard  them,  and 
the  chains  were  now  a  thing  of  the  past.  They  had 
prayed  that  they  might  again  have  a  country,  and  now 
they  were  in  the  way  of  receiving  that  at  the  hand  of  the 
Lord. 


204  MARY    AND    I. 

And  so,  as  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson  was  with  the 
united  church  of  camp  and  prison  en  the  Missouri,  Dr.  T. 
S.  Williamson  and  I  took  with  us  John  B.  Renville  and 
started  on  a  tour  of  summer  visitation.  After  a  week's 
travel  from  St.  Peter,  in  Minnesota,  we  reached  the  Scout's 
camp,  which,  in  the  month  of  June,  1866,  we  found  partly 
on  the  margin  of  Lake  Traverse,  and  partly  at  Buffalo 
Lake,  in  the  country  which  was  afterward  set  apart  for 
their  especial  use. 

At  both  of  these  places  we  administered  the  Lord's 
Supper,  ordained  Daniel  Renmlle  as  a  ruling  elder,  and 
licensed  Peter  Big-fire  and  Simon  Anawangmane  to 
preach  the  gospel.  Neither  of  these  men  developed  into 
preachers,  but  they  have  been  useful  as  exhorters  from 
that  day  to  this.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  we  added  Peter 
to  our  little  company,  and  started  across  from  Fort  Wads- 
worth,  which  had  only  recently  been  established,  to  Crow 
Creek  on  the  Missouri.  From  that  point  we  passed  down 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara. 

On  this  journey  across  the  prairie  we  encountered  many 
herds  of  buffalo.  Sometimes  they  were  far  to  one  side 
of  us,  and  we  could  pass  by  without  molesting  them. 
Once,  on  the  first  day  from  Wadsworth,  we  came  sud- 
denly upon  a  herd  of  a  hundred  or  more,  lying  down. 
When  we  discovered  them,  they  were  only  about  half  a 
mile  in  front  of  us.  Peter  said  it  was  too  good  a  chance 
not  to  be  improved,  he  must  shoot  one.  We  gave  him 
leave  to  try,  and  he  crawled  around  over  some  low 
ground  and  killed  a  very  fine  cow.  We  could  only 
take  a  little  of  the  meat,  leaving  the  rest  to  be  devoured 
by  prairie  wolves.  This  episode  in  the  day's  travel  fright- 
ened our  horses,  delayed  us  somewhat,  and  made  us  late 
getting  into  camp  at  the  "  Buzzard's  Nest."  The  result 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  205 

was,  that  in  the  gloaming,  our  horses  all  broke  away,  and 
gave  us  four  hours  of  hunting  for  them  the  next  morning. 
Then  we  had  a  long,  hot  ride,  without  water,  over  the 
burning  prairie  to  James  River. 

As  I  have  said,  the  prisoners  released  from  Davenport 
and  their  families  from  Crow  Creek  had  met  at  Niobrara. 
This  point  had  been  selected  for  a  town  site,  and  a  com- 
pany had  erected  a  large  shell  of  a  frame  house  intended 
for  a  hotel.  Their  plans  had  failed,  and  now  the  thought 
probably  was  to  reimburse  themselves  out  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

We  found  the  Indians  living  in  tents,  while  the  fam- 
ilies of  Mr.  Williamson  and  Mr.  Pond  and  others  were 
accommodated  with  shelter  in  the  big  house.  For  their 
religious  mass-meetings,  they  had  erected  a  large  booth, 
which  served  well  in  the  dry  weather  of  summer.  Every 
day,  morning  and  evening,  they  gathered  there  for  prayer 
and  praise,  reading  the  Bible  and  telling  what  God  had 
done  for  them.  They  had  come  too  late  to  plant,  and. 
there  was  but  little  employment  for  them,  and  so  the  weeks 
we  spent  there  were  weeks  of  worship,  given  to  the 
strengthening  the  things  that  remain,  and  arranging  for 
future  educational  and  Christian  work.  The  churches  of 
the  prison  and  the  camp  were  consolidated,  and  we  select- 
ed and  licensed  Artemas  Ehnamane  and  Titus  Ichadooze 
as  probationers  for  the  gospel  ministry.  When  we  had 
remained  as  long  as  seemed  desirable,  Dr.  Williamson 
and  I  left  them,  and  came  down  to  the  Omaha  Reserve, 
where  we  visited  the  new  agency  among  the  Winneba- 
goes  and  the  Presbyterian  Boarding-School  among  the 
Omahas.  The  latter  was  nourishing,  but  having  been 
conducted  in  English  alone,  its  spiritual  results  were  very 
unsatisfactory. 


206  MARY   AND    I. 

The  multiplication  of  Dakota  readers,  during  the  past 
few  years,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  our  work  of  translating 
the  Scriptures,  and  made  larger  demands  for  other  books. 
This  furnished  a  great  amount  of  winter  work  for  both 
Dr.  Williamson  and  myself.  In  five  years  we  added  the 
Psalms,  Ecclesiastes,  the  Song  and  Isaiah,  together  with 
the  other  four  books  of  Moses,  to  what  we  had  printed  in 
1865. 

The  Wahpatons  and  Sissetons  who  constituted  the  Scouts 
Camp  on  the  western  border  of  Minnesota,  and  who  had 
done  good  service  in  protecting  the  white  settlements 
from  the  roving,  horse-stealing  Sioux,  in  the  first  months 
of  1867,  sent  a  delegation  to  Washington  to  make  a 
treaty,  and  obtain  the  guarantee  of  a  home,  and  govern- 
ment help.  While  that  delegation  was  in  Washington,  I 
took  occasion  to  spend  a  month  or  more  in  lobbying  in 
the  interests  of  Indian  civilization.  To  me  this  kind  of 
work  was  always  distasteful  and  unsatisfactory,  and  this 
time  I  came  home  to  be  taken  down  with  inflammatory 
rheumatism.  I  had  planned  for  an  early  summer  cam- 
paign in  the  Dakota  country,  but  it  was  July  before  I 
could  get  courage  enough  to  start.  And  then  it  was  with 
a  great  deal  of  pain  that  I  endured  the  stage  ride  between 
Omaha  and  Sioux  City.  There  I  was  met  by  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson, in  his  little  wagon,  and  together  we  proceeded 
up  to  the  settlement  in  Nebraska. 

Since  we  had  been  there  in  the  previous  summer,  these 
people  had  drifted  down  on  to  Bazille  Creek,  where  Mr. 
Williamson  and  Mr.  Pond  had  erected  shacks — that  is, 
log  houses  with  dirt  roofs — and  between  the  two  had 
made  a  room  for  assembly.  The  two  men  we  had  licensed 
the  summer  previous,  were  this  season  ordained  and  set 
over  the  native  church,  Mr.  Williamson  still  retaining 


FORTY    YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX  207 

the  oversight.  At  each  visitation  we  endeavored  to  work 
the  native  church  members  up  to  a  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility in  the  work  of  contributing  to  the  support  of  their 
pastors,  but  it  has  been  no  easy  undertaking. 

This  summer,  with  Robert  Hopkins  and  Adam  Paze 
for  our  companions  in  travel,  the  doctor  and  I  crossed 
over  directly  from  Niobrara  to  the  head  of  the  Coteau. 
Those  Indians  we  now  found  considerably  scattered  on 
their  new  reservation.  Some  general  lines  began  to  ap- 
pear in  the  settlement,  and,  during  thi«,  and  our  visit  in 
the  year  following,  several  church  organizations  were 
effected;  and  Solomon  Toonkan-Shaecheya,  Robert 
ifopkinS)  Louis  Mazawakinyanna  and  Daniel  Renmlle 
were  licensed  to  preach. 

Louis  was  an  elder  in  the  prison  and  on  the  Niobrara, 
and,  of  his  own  motion,  had  gone  over  to  Fort  Wads  worth  , 
and  finding  a  community  of  Sioux  scouts  connected  with 
the  garrison,  commenced  religious  work  among  them.  In 
this  he  was  supported  and  encouraged  by  the  chaplain, 
Rev.  G.  D.  Crocker.  This  year  our  camp-meeting  was 
held  011  the  border  of  the  Coteau  as  it  looks  down  on 
Lake  Traverse. 

The  opening  of  the  season  of  1868  found  me  starting 
from  Sioux  City  on  a  grey  pony,  which  I  rode  across  to 
Minnesota.  But  first  I  spent  some  weeks  with  the  San- 
tees.  They  had  partly  removed  from  Bazille  Creek  down 
to  the  bottom  where  the  agency  is  now  located.  A  long 
log  house  had  been  prepared  for  a  church  and  school- 
house.  The  Episcopalians  were  building  extensively, 
and  expensively,  while  our  folks  contented  themselves  with 
very  humble  abodes.  The  work  of  education  had  pro- 
gressed very  finely,  Mr.  Williamson  and  Mr.  Pond  giving 


208  MARY   AND    I. 

much  time  to  it,  while  Mrs.  Pond  and  Mrs.  Williamson 
greatly  helped  the  women  in  their  religious  home-life. 

This  summer  John  P.  Williamson  and  I  took  Artemas 
Ehnamane,  the  senior  native  minister  of  the  Pilgrim 
Church,  and  crossed  over  to  Fort  Wadsworth,  where  Dr. 
Williamson  and  John  B.  Renville  met  us.  On  the  way, 
we  made  a  short  stop  at  the  Yankton  Agency,  which  we 
had  visited  two  years  before.  Now  it  was  opening  up 
as  a  field  of  promise  to  Mr.  Williamson,  and  he  proceeded 
to  occupy  it  soon  afterward.  We  made  another  stop, 
for  preaching  purposes,  at  Brule  and  Crow  Creek,  where 
the  pastor  of  Santee  showed  himself  able  to  gain  the 
attention  of  the  wild  Sioux.  Our  ride  across  the  desert 
land  was  enlivened  by  conversation  on  Dakota  customs 
and  Dakota  songs.  In  both  these  departments  of  litera- 
ture, this  former  hunter  and  warrior  from  Red  Wing  was 
an  excellent  teacher. 

This  annual  gathering  at  the  head  of  the  Coteau  was 
held  at  Dry  Wood  Lake,  where  Peter  Big  Fire  had  settled. 
It  was  the  most  remarkable  of  all  those  yearly  camp- 
meetings.  On  this  occasion  about  sixty  persons  were 
added  to  our  church  list.  It  was  a  sight  to  be  remem- 
bered, when,  on  the  open  prairie,  they  and  their  children 
stood  up  to  be  baptized. 

At  the  close  of  this  meeting  we  held  another  at  Buffalo 
Lake,  in  one  of  their  summer  houses,  which  was  full  of 
meaning.  The  recently  organized  church  of  Long  Hol- 
low, which  then  extended  to  Buffalo  Lake,  had  selected 
SOLOMON  to  be  their  religious  teacher.  And  this  after 
meeting  was  held  to  ordain  and  install  him  as  pastor  of 
that  church.  He  was  a  young  man  of  Christian  experi- 
ence and  blameless  life,  and  has  since  proved  himself 
to  be  a  very  reliable  and  useful  native  pastor. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  209 

Since  the  marvels  of  grace  wrought  among  the  Dakotas 
in  the  prison  and  camp,  we  had  received  numerous  invi- 
tations to  prepare  some  account  thereof,  for  the  Christian 
public.  Several  of  these  requests  came  from  members  of 
the  Dakota  Presbytery,  which  then  covered  the  western 
part  of  Minnesota.  Accordingly  I  had  taken  up  the  idea, 
and  endeavored  to  work  it  out.  Some  chapters  had  been 
submitted,  for  examination,  to  a  committee  of  the  Pres- 
bytery, and  commended  by  them  for  publication.  In  the 
autumn  and  winter  of  1868,  the  manuscript  began  to 
assume  a  completed  form.  It  was  submitted  to  Secretary 
S.  B.  Treat  for  examination,  who  made  valuable  sugges- 
tions, and  agreed  to  write  an  introduction  to  the  book. 
This  he  did,  in  a  manner  highly  satisfactory. 

The  manuscript  I  first  offered  to  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication.  But  the  best  that  Dr.  Dulles  could 
do,  was  to  offer  me  a  hundred  dollars  for  the  copyright. 
Friends  in  Boston  thought  I  could  do  better  there.  And 
so  "  Tahkoo  Wakan,"  or,  "  The  Gospel  among  the  Dako- 
tas," was  brought  out  by  the  Congregational  Publishing 
Society,  in  the  summer  of  1869.  In  the  preparation  of 
the  book,  Mary  had  taken  the  deepest  interest,  although 
not  able  to  do  much  of  the  mental  work.  The  preface 
bears  date  less  than  three  weeks  before  her  death. 

Authors  whose  books  do  not  sell  very  well,  I  suppose, 
generally  marvel  at  the  result.  This  little  volume  was, 
and  is  still,  so  intensely  interesting  to  me,  that  I  wonder 
why  everybody  do3S  not  buy  and  read  it.  But  over 
against  this  stands  the  fact  that  hitherto  less  than  two 
thousand  copies  have  been  disposed  of.  Pecuniarily,  it 
has  not  been  a  success.  But  neither  has  it  been  an  entire 
failure.  And  perhaps  it  has  done  some  good  in  bringing 
a  class  of  Christian  workers  into  more  intelligent  sympa- 

14 


210  MAKY   AND    I. 

thy  and  co-operation  in  the  work  of  Indian  evangelization; 
and  so  the  labor  is  not  lost. 

Since  we  left  Minnesota,  Mary  had  apparently  been 
slowly  recovering  from  the  invalidism  of  the  past.  She 
enjoyed  life.  She  could  occasionally  attend  religious 
meetings.  The  society  of  Beloit  was  very  congenial. 
Sometimes  she  was  able  to  attend  the  ministers'  meetings, 
and  enjoyed  the  literary  and  religious  discussions  and 
criticisms.  The  last  winter— that  of  1868-'69 — she  be- 
came exceedingly  interested  in  a  book  called,  "  The  Seven 
Great  Hymns  of  the  Medieval  Church."  She  read  and 
reread  the  various  translations  of  '•'•Dies  Irae"  But  she 
was  attracted  most  to  the  "Hora  Nomssima"  of  Bernard 
of  Cluni.  Such  a  stanza  as  the  26th: 

"  Thou  hast  no  shore,  fair  ocean ! 

Thou  hast  no  time,  bright  day ! 
Dear  fountain  of  refreshment 
To  pilgrims  far  away ! 

"  Upon  the  Rock  of  Ages 

They  raise  thy  holy  Tower ; 
Thine  is  the  victor's  laurel, 
And  thine  the  golden  Dower." 

And  the  29th: 

"Jerusalem  the  golden, 

With  milk  and  honey  blest, 
Beneath  thy  contemplation, 
Sink  heart  and  voice  oppressed. 

"  I  know  not,  O,  I  know  not, 

What  social  joys  are  thine! 
What  radiancy  of  glory, 
What  light  beyond  compare!" 

But  these   and  others  were  all  eclipsed  by  the  last, 
which  seemed  afterward  to  have  been  a  prophecy  of  what 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          211 

was  near  at  hand,  and  yet  neither  she  nor  we  anticipated 
it: 

"Exult,  0  dust  and  ashes  ! 

The  Lord  shall  be  thy  part; 
His  only,  His  forever, 

Thou  shalt  be,  and  thou  art!  " 

This  was  a  fascination  to  her.  We  were  blind  at  the 
time,  and  did  not  see  afar  off.  Now  it  is  manifest,  that 
even  then  she  was  preparing  to  go  to  "  Jerusalem  the 
onely."  She  was  tenting  in  the  Land  of  Beulah. 

For  years  past  Mary  had  almost  ceased  to  write  letters. 
Neither  her  physical  nor  mental  condition  had  permitted 
it.  But  a  letter  is  found  written  on  the  2d  of  February, 
-1869,  which  must  have  been  the  very  last  she  ever  wrote. 
Along  with  it  she  sent  a  copy  of  some*of  the  stanzas  from 
"UTora  Novissima"  which  at  this  time  were  such  an  en- 
joyment to  her.  The  letter  is  addressed  to  Isabella,  in 
China.  She  writes:  "Your  last  letter,  written  Oct.  5, 
'68,  was  received  Jan.  5,  1869.  All  your  letters  are  very 
precious  to  us,  but  this  is  peculiarly  so.  Perhaps  I  have 
written  this  before;  but  if  I  have,  I  am  glad  again  to 
acknowledge  the  joy  it  gives  me,  that  our  Father  gives 
you  faith  to  look  gratefully  beyond  the  passing  shadows 
of  this  life,  into  the  abiding  light  of  the  life  to  come. 

"  Was  the  19th  of  First  Chronicles  the  last  chapter  we 
read  in  family  worship  before  you  left  home?  If  so,  the 
13th  verse  must  be  the  one  you  read:  '  Be  of  good  cour- 
age, and  let  us  behave  valiently  for  our  people,  and  for 
the  cities  of  our  God ;  and  let  the  Lord  do  that  which  is 
good  in  His  sight.'  Even  so  let  it  be.  May  you  ever  'be 
strong  in  the  Lord.'  " 

We  had  passed  the  nones  of  March.  It  was  on  Tuesday, 
the  10th,  as  I  well  remember  the  day  of  the  minister's 


212  MA.BY   AND    I. 

meeting,  which  was  held  at  the  house  of  the  Presbyterian 
minister,  Rev.  Mr.  Alexander.  Mary  had  been  planning 
to  attend  in  the  evening.  But  the  day  was  chill  and  cold, 
as  March  days  often  are.  She  had  been  out  in  the  yard 
seeing  to  the  washed  clothes,  and  had  taken  cold.  In 
the  evening  she  was  not  feeling  so  well,  and  decided  to 
stay  at  home.  For  several  days  she  thought — and  we 
thought — it  was  only  an  ordinary  cold,  that  some  simple 
medicines  and  care  in  diet  would  remedy. 

On  Saturday,  as  she  seemed  to  be  growing  no  better, 
but  rather  worse,  I  called  in  Dr.  Taggart,  who  pronounced 
it  a  case  of  pneumonia.  The  attack  he  said  was  a  severe 
one,  and  her  lungs  were  very  seriously  affected.  Her 
hold  on  life  had  been  so  feeble  for  several  years,  that  we 
could  not  expect  she  would  throw  off  disease  as  easily  as 
a  person  of  more  vigor.  But  at  this  time,  her  own  im- 
pression was  that  she  would  recover.  And  the  doctor 
said  he  saw  nothing  to  make  him  think  she  would  not 

But  soon  after  the  physician's  first  visit,  the  record  is, 
"  She  was  occasionally  flighty  and  under  strange  hallu- 
cinations, caused  either  by  the  disease  or  the  medicines." 
On  the  following  Thursday,  she  evidently  began  to  be 
impressed  with  the  thought  that  she  possibly  would  not 
get  well.  She  said  she  felt  more  unconscious  and  stupid 
than  she  had  ever  felt  before  in  sickness.  When,  in  an- 
swer to  her  inquiry  as  to  what  the  doctor  said  of  her  case, 
I  told  her  he  was  very  hopeful,  she  said,  "He  does  not 
know  much  more  about  it  than  we  do."  At  one  time  she 
remarked,  "  I  feel  very  delicious,  the  taking  down  of  the 
tabernacle  appears  so  beautiful ;"  and  she  desired  me  to 
get  Bernard's  Hymn,  and  read  such  passages  as  "Jeru- 
salem the  Golden,"  and  "  Exult,  O  dust  and  ashes." 


FORTY  YEAES  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         213 

"  Friday,  March  19,  Noon. 

"  I  watched  with  your  mother  last  night.  Her  strength 
seems  to  keep  up  wonderfully  well,  but  the  disease  has 
quite  affected  her  power  of  speech.  When  it  came  light, 
I  perceived  a  livid  hue  about  her  eyes,  and  became 
alarmed.  We  sent  for  Dr.  Taggart.  The  propriety  of 
continuing  the  whisky  prescriptions  seemed  quite  doubt- 
ful, especially  as  the  mother  was  taking  them  under  a 
conscientious  protest.  When  the  doctor  came  he  ap- 
peared to  be  alarmed  also,  and  changed  his  treatment 
from  Dover's  powders  to  quinine,  but  wished  the  whisky 
continued. 

"  During  the  morning  she  spoke  several  times  about 
-the  probabilities  of  life.  '  God  knows  the  best  time,'  she 
said;  'but  if  I  am  to  go  now,  I  do  not  wish  to  linger 
long.'  She  had  been  able,  she  said,  to  do  but  little  for 
years,  and  there  was  not  much  reason  for  her  living — but 
she  would  be  glad  to  stay  longer  for  the  children's  sake. 
At  one  time  she  remarked  in  substance — *  I  have  tried 
all  along  to  do  right,  I  don't  know  that  I  should  be  able 
to  do  better,  if  the  life  was  to  be  lived  over  again.' " 

"  Saturday  noon,  March  20. 

"It  is  a  privilege  that  I  never  knew  before,  to  watch 
and  wait  in  a  sick  chamber,  where  one  is  in  sympathy  and 
contact  with  the  spirit  that  is  mounting  upward.  It  does 
seem  as  if  the  pins  of  the  tabernacle  were  indeed  being 
taken  out  one  by  one,  and  the  taking  of  it  down  is  beau- 
tiful— how  much  more  beautiful  will  be  its  rebuilding! 

"  Anna  and  I  watched  the  first  part  of  last  night — or 
rather  she  watched,  and  I  lay  on  the  lounge  and  got  up 
to  help  her.  In  the  latter  part,  Alfred  took  Anna's  place. 
So  we  watch  and  wait.  Her  mind-wandering  continues 


214  MART   AND    I. 

at  intervals,  and  she  complains  of  her  dullness — so  stupid, 
she  says.  Christ,  she  says,  has  been  near  to  her  all  win- 
ter, and  is  now.  A  little  while  ago,  she  remarked  that 
she  had  been  once,  at  Saint  Anthony,  as  low  as  she  is 
now,  and  God  had  restored  her.  So  she  wanted  us  to 
pray  that  God  would  restore  her  yet  again.  This  fore- 
noon she  had  a  talk  with  Henry,  Robbie  and  Cornelia 
separately.  When  Mr.  Warner  came  in  she  asked  to  see 
him,  and  said  she  hoped  to  have  seen  him  under  different 
circumstances  than  the  present — and  then  commended 
Anna  to  his  gentle  care." 

"  Saturday  evening. 

"  One  feels  so  powerless  by  the  side  of  a  sick  loved 
one!  How  we  would  like  to  make  well,  if  we  could! 
But  the  fever  continues  to  burn,  and  we  can  only  look  on. 
Then  the  mind  wanders  and  fastens  on  all  kinds  of  im- 
possible and  imaginary  things.  We  would  set  that  right, 
but  we  cannot.  Dr.  Taggart  has  just  been  here,  and 
speaks  encouragingly  of  your  mother.  He  thinks  if  we  can 
keep  her  along  until  the  fever  runs  its  course,  then  careful 
nursing  will  bring  her  up  again.  The  neighbors  are  very 
kind  in  offering  us  help  and  sympathy." 

"  Sabbath  morning. 

"  The  mother  is  still  here.  But  the  hopes  Dr.  Taggart 
encouraged  are  not  likely  to  be  realized.  Alfred  and  I 
watched  with  her  until  after  midnight,  and  Mrs.  Bushnell 
and  Anna  the  rest  of  the  night.  As  the  bourbon  contin- 
ued to  be  so  distasteful  the  doctor  substituted  wine;  but 
that  was  no  more  desirable. 

"  When  told  it  was  the  Sabbath  morning,  she  looked 
up  brightly  and  said,  '  I  think  He  will  come  for  me  to- 
day.' Over  and  over  again,  she  said,  4He  strengthens 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          215 

me.'  Mrs.  Carr  and  Mrs.  Benson  came  in  this  morning 
and  were  very  helpful.  The  doctor  has  been  up  again, 
and  says  he  is  still  hopeful.  So  we  hope  and  watch." 

"  Sabbath  evening. 

"  The  sick  one  continues  much  the  same  as  earlier  in 
the  day.  Mrs.  Blaisdell  and  Mrs.  Merrill  came  to  offer 
their  sympathy.  Dr.  Taggart  came  again  and  desired 
that  she  might  renew  the  whisky.  This  she  promised  to 
do.  Mr.  Bushnell  has  been  in  and  expressed  his  confi- 
dence in  the  minne-wakan  for  those  who  are  ready  to 
perish." 

"Monday  morn,  5:30  o'clock. 

"  The  end  seems  to  be  coming  on  apace.  Anna  and 
Alfred  watched  the  first  part  of  the  night,  and  Mrs.  Whee- 
ler and  I  have  been  watching  since.  The  difficulty  of 
breathing  has  increased  within  the  last  few  hours,  and 
added  to  it  is  a  rattling  in  the  throat.  Your  mother 
called  my  attention  to  it  about  three  o'clock.  It  seerns 
now,  as  if  we  can't  do  much  but  smooth  the  way,  which 
we  do  tenderly — lovingly." 

"  Seven  o'clock  A.  M. 

"  The  battle  is  fought,  the  conflict  is  ended,  the  victory 
is  won,  and  that  sooner  than  we  expected.  Your  mother's 
life's  drama  is  closed — the  curtain  is  drawn. 

"  About  one  hour  ago  she  called  for  some  tea.  Mrs. 
Wheeler  hasted  and  made  some  fresh.  When  she  had 
taken  that,  we  gave  her  also  the  medicine  for  the  hour. 
She  then  appeared  to  lie  easily.  I  sat  down  to  write  a 
note  to  Thomas,  who  was  in  the  Freedman's  work  in 
Mississippi.  But  I  had  written  only  a  few  lines  when 
Mrs.  Wheeler  called  me.  She  had  noticed  a  change  come 
on  very  suddenly.  When  I  reached  the  bed-side,  your 


216  MARY    AND    I. 

mother  could  not  speak,  and  did  not  recognize  me  by  any 
sign.  She  was  passing  through  the  deep  waters,  and  had 
even  then  reached  the  farther  shore. 

"  Mrs.  Wheeler  called  up  the  children,  and  sent  Robbie 
for  Alfred.  But  before  he  could  come,  the  mother  had 
breathed  her  last  breath.  Quietly,  peacefully,  without  a 
struggle,  only  the  gasping  out  of  life,  she  passed  beyond 
our  reach  of  vision. 

"  Yesterday  she  had  said  to  me,  c  I  have  neglected  the 
flowers.'  I  asked,  'What  flowers?'  She  replied,  'The 
Immortelles.'  Dear,  good  one,  she  has  gone  to  the  flower- 
garden  of  G-od" 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          217 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

1869-1870.— Home  Desolate.— At  the  General  Assembly.— Sum- 
mer Campaign.— A.  L.  Riggs.— His  Story  of  Early  Life.— 
Inside  View  of  Missions.— Why  Missionaries'  Children 
Become  Missionaries.— No  Constraint  Laid  on  Them. — A. 
L.  Riggs  Visits  the  Missouri  Sioux. — Up  the  River. — The 
Brules. — Cheyenne  and  Grand  River. — Starting  for  Fort 
Wadsworth  —  Sun  Eclipsed.— Sisseton  Reserve.— Deciding  to 
Build  there. — In  the  Autumn  Assembly. — My  Mother's 
Home. — Winter  Visit  to  Santee. — Julia  La  Framboise. 

As  Abraham,  a  stranger  and  sojourner  in  the  land  of 
the  children  of  Heth,  bought  of  them  the  cave  of  Mach- 
pelah  wherein  to  bury  Sarah,  so  it  seemed  to  me  that  I 
had  come  to  Beloit  to  make  a  last  resting  place  for  the 
remains  of  Mary.  The  house  seemed  desolate.  Sooner 
or  later  it  involved  the  breaking  up  of  the  family.  In- 
deed it  commenced  very  soon.  Robert  went  up  to 
Minnesota  to  spend  a  year  at  Martha's.  In  the  meantime 
Anna  had  become  mistress  of  the  home,  and  had  with  her 
Mary  Cooley,  an  invalid  cousin. 

That  year  of  1869,  I  was  Commissioner  from  the  Da- 
kota Presbytery,  to  the  General  Assembly  which  met  in 
New  York  City.  It  was  an  Assembly  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary interest,  as  at  that  meeting,  and  the  one  that 
followed  in  the  autumn,  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyter- 
ian Church  North  were  again  united.  During  this  stay  in 
New  York  City,  I  was  the  guest  of  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Dodge. 


218  MARY    AND    I. 

That  was  quite  a  contrast  to  living  among  the  Dakotas, 
But  at  the  close  of  the  Assembly,  I  hastened  westward  to 
join  Dr.  Williamson  at  St.  Peter.  He  had  procured  a 
small  double  wagon  and  a  pony  team,  with  which  we 
together  should  make  our  summer  campaign.  Having 
fitted  ourselves  out,  as  we  always  did,  with  tent  and 
camping  materials,  our  first  objective  point  was  Sioux 
City,  where  we  had  arranged  to  meet  and  take  in  Alfred 
L.  Riggs. 

Since  a  little  previous  to  the  outbreak  in  1862,  he  had 
been  preaching  to  white  people;  first  at  Lockport,  111., 
where  he  was  ordained  and  continued  with  the  church 
five  years,  and  then  for  a  year  at  Center,  Wis.,  and  now 
at  Woodstock,  111.  But  all  this  time  he  seemed  to  be 
only  waiting  for  the  Dakota  work  to  assume  such  a  shape 
as  to  invite  his  assistance.  For  sometime  he  had  been 
especially  acquainting  himself  with  the  most  approved 
methods  of  education,  that  he  might  fill  a  place,  which, 
year  by  year,  was  becoming  more  manifestly  important  to 
be  filled. 

As  in  the  progress  of  modern  missions  a  large  and 
increasing  share  of  the  new  recruits  are  the  children  of 
missionaries,  it  will  be  interesting  to  know,  from  one  of 
themselves,  how  they  grow  up  in  and  into  the  Missionary 
Kingdom. 

My  first  serious  impression  of  life  was,  that  I  was  living 
under  a  great  weight  of  something;  and  as  I  began  to 
discern  more  clearly,  I  found  this  weight  to  be  the  all- 
surrounding,  overwhelming  presence  of  heathenism,  and 
all  the  instincts  of  my  birth,  and  all  the  culture  of  a 
Christian  home,  set  me  at  antagonism  to  it  at  every  point. 
The  filthy  savages,  indecently  clad,  lazily  lounging  about 
the  stove  of  our  sitting-room,  or  flattening  their  dirty 


FORTY   TEAKS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  219 

noses  on  the  window  pane,  caused  such  a  disgust  for 
everything  Indian,  that  it  took  the  better  thought  of 
many  years  to  overcome  the  repugnance  thus  aroused. 
Without  doubt  our  mothers  felt  it  all  as  keenly  as  we, 
their  children,  but  they  had  a  sustaining  ambition  for 
souls  which  we  had  not  yet  gained. 

This  feeling  of  disgust  was  often  accompanied  with, 
and  heightened  by,  fear.  The  very  air  seemed  to  breathe 
dangers.  At  times  violence  stalked  abroad  unchallenged, 
and  dark,  lowering  faces  skulked  around.  Even  in  times 
when  we  felt  no  personal  danger,  this  incubus  of  savage 
life  all  around  weighed  on  our  hearts.  Thus  it  was,  day 
and  night.  Even  those  hours  of  twilight,  which  brood 
with  sweet  influences  over  so  many  lives,  bore  to  us  on 
the  evening  air  only  the  weird  cadences  of  the  heathen 
dance,  or  the  chill  thrill  of  the  war-whoop. 

Yet  our  childhood  was  not  destitute  of  joy.  Babes 
prattle  beside  the  dead.  So,  too,  the  children  of  the  mis- 
sion had  their  plays,  like  other  children.  But  it  was 
lonesome  indeed  when  the  missionary  band  was  divided, 
to  occupy  other  stations,  and  the  playmates  were  sepa- 
rated. Once  it  was  my  privilege  to  go  one  hundred  and 
"twenty  miles — to  the  nearest  station — to  have  a  play-spell 
of  a  week,  and  a  happy  week  it  was. 

Notwithstanding  our  play- spells,  ours  was  a  serious 
ife.  The  serious  earnestness  of  our  parents  in  the  pur- 
suit of  their  work  could  not  fail  to  fall,  in  some  degree, 
on  the  children.  The  main  purpose  of  Christianizing  that 
people  was  felt  in  everything.  It  was  like  garrison  life 
in  time  of  war.  But  this  seri  ousness  was  not  ascetical 
or  morose.  Far  from  it.  Those  Christian  missionary 
homes  were  full  of  gladness.  With  all  the  disadvantages 
of  such  a  childhood,  was  the  rich  privilege  of  understand- 


220  MARY    AND    I. 

ing  the  meaning  of  cheerful  earnestness  in  Christian  life. 
Speaking  of  peculiar  privileges,  I  must  say  that  I  do  not 
believe  any  other  homes  can  be  as  precious  as  ours.  It 
is  true  everyone  thinks  his  is  the  best  mother  in  the 
world,  and  she  is  to  him;  but  I  mean  more  than  this;  I 
mean  that  our  missionary  homes  are  in  reality  better  than 
others.  And  there  is  reason  for  it.  By  reason  of  the 
surrounding  heathenism  the  light  and  power  of  Christian- 
ity is  more  centered  and  confined  in  the  home.  And  then 
again  its  power  is  developed  by  its  antagonism  to  the 
darkness  and  wickedness  around  it.  For  either  its  light 
must  ever  shine  clearer,  or  grow  more  dim  until  it  expires. 

Next  to  our  own  home,  we  learned  to  love  the  home- 
land in  "  the  States,"  whence  our  parents  came.  A  long- 
ing desire  to  visit  it  possessed  us.  We  thought  that  there 
we  should  find  a  heaven  on  earth.  This  may  seem  a 
strange  idea,  but  as  you  think  of  us  engulphed  in  heathen- 
ism and  savage  life,  it  will  not  seem  so  strange.  It  was 
like  living  at  the  bottom  of  a  well,  with  only  one  spot  of 
brightness  overhead.  Of  course  it  would  be  natural  to 
think  that  upper  world  all  brightness  and  beauty.  Thus 
all  our  glimpses  of  another  life  than  that  of  heathenism 
came  from  "the  States."  There  all  our  ideas  of  Chris- 
tianized society  were  located.  The  correspondence  of 
our  parents  with  friends  left  behind,  the  pages  of  the 
magazines  and  papers  of  the  monthly  mail,  and  the  yearly 
boxes  of  supplies,  were  the  tangible  tokens  which  in  our 
innocent  minds  awakened  visions  of  the  wonderful  world 
of  civilization  and  culture  in  "the  East." 

These  supplies  were  in  reality,  perhaps,  very  small 
affairs,  but  we  thought  them  of  fabulous  value.  Indeed 
they  were  everything  to  us.  "With  the  opening  of  the 
new  year  the  lists  of  purchases  began  to  be  arranged. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  221 

Each  item  was  carefully  considered,  and  the  wants  of 
each  of  the  family  remembered.  This  was  no  small  task 
when  you  had  to  look  a  year  and  a  half  ahead.  What 
debates  as  to  whether  B  could  get  on  with  one  pair  of 
shoes,  or  must  have  two;  or  whether  C  would  need  some 
more  gingham  aprons,  or  could  make  the  old  ones  last 
through.  And  then  it  was  so  hard  to  remember  musquito 
bars  and  straw  hats  in  January;  but  if  they  were  forgotten 
once,  the  next  January  found  them  first  on  the  list.  It 
was  fun  to  make  up  the  lists,  but  not  so  exhilarating 
when,  on  summing  up  the  probable  cost,  it  was  found  to 
be  too  much,  and  then  the  cruel  pen  ran  through  many 
of  our  new-born  hopes.  Then  the  letter  went  on  its  way 
to  Boston,  or  maybe  to  Cincinnati,  and  we  waited  its 
substantial  answer.  Sometimes  our  boxes  went  around 
by  lazy  sloops  from  Boston  to  New  Orleans;  thence  the 
laboring  steamboat  bore  them  almost  the  whole  length  of 
the  Father  of  Waters;  then  the  flatboatmen  sweated  and 
swore  as  they  poled  them  up  the  Minnesota  to  where  our 
teams  met  them  to  carry  them  for  another  week  over  the 
prairies.  Now  it  was  far  on  into  rosy  June.  After  such 
waiting,  no  wonder  that  everything  seemed  precious — the 
very  hoops  of  the  boxes  and  the  redolent  pine  that  made 
them;  even  the  wrappers  and  strings  of  the  packages 
were  carefully  laid  away.  And,  thanks  to  the  kind  friends 
who  have  cared  for  this  work  at  our  several  purchasing 
depots,  our  wants  were  generally  capitally  met;  and  yet 
sometimes  the  packer  would  arrange  it  so  that  the  linseed 
oil  would  give  a  new  taste  to  the  dried  apples,  anything 
but  appetizing,  or  turn  the  plain  white  of  some  long- 
desired  book  into  a  highly  "  tinted  "  edition. 

When  the  number  of  our  years  got  well  past  the  single 
figures,  then  we  went  to  "  the   States  "  to  carry  on   the 


222  MAKY   AND    I. 

education  begun  at  home.  Then  came  the  saddest  dis- 
appointment of  all  our  lives.  We  found  we  were  yet  a 
good  ways  from  heaven.  For  me,  the  last  remnant  of 
this  dream  was  effectually  dispelled  when  I  came  to  teach 
a  Sabbath-school  in  a  back  country  neighborhood,  where 
the  people  were  the  driftwood  of  Kentucky  and  Egyp- 
tian Illinois.  Thenceforth  the  land  of  the  Dakotas  seemed 
more  the  land  of  promise  to  me.  From  that  time  the 
claims  of  the  work  in  which  my  parents  were  engaged 
grew  upon  my  mind. 

Of  late  years  the  children  of  missionaries  have  every- 
where furnished  a  large  portion  of  the  new  reinforce- 
ments. This  is  both  natural  and  strange.  It  is  natural 
that  they  should  desire  to  stay  the  hands  of  their  pa- 
rents, and  go  to  reap  what  they  have  sown.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  go  out  in  face  of  all  the  hardships  of  the  work, 
made  vividly  real  to  them  by  the  experience  of  their 
childhood.  They  are  attracted  by  no  romantic  sentiment. 
The  romance  is  for  them  all  worn  off  long  ago.  For  in- 
stance, those  of  us  on  this  field  know  the  noble  red  man 
of  the  poet  to  be  a  myth.  We  know  the  real  savage,  and 
know  him  almost  too  well.  Thus  those  who  follow  in  the 
work  of  their  missionary  fathers  do  not  do  it  without  a 
struggle — often  fearful.  On  the  one  hand  stands  the 
work,  calling  them  to  lonesome  separation,  and  on  the 
other  the  pleasant  companionship  of  civilized  society. 
But  if  the  word  of  the  Lord  has  come  to  them  to  go  to 
Nineveh,  happy  are  they  if  they  do  not  go  thither  by  way 
of  Joppa. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  drawbacks  to  entering  the  work, 
but  the  inducements  must  also  be  remembered.  They 
are  greater  than  the  drawbacks.  We  know  them  also 
better  than  strangers  can.  If  we  have  known  more  of 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         £23 

the  discouragements  of  the  work,  we  also  know  more  of 
its  hopefulness.  We  know  the  real  savage,  but  we  now 
know,  and  fully  believe  in,  his  real  humanity  and  salva- 
bility  by  the  power  of  the  cross.  Now,  too,  when  the 
work  is  entered,  the  very  difficulties  which  barred  the 
way  grow  less  or  disappear.  We  find  the  dreaded  isola- 
tion to  be  more  in  appearance  than  reality.  We  here 
are  in  connection  with  the  best  thought  and  sympathy  of 
the  civilized  world,  whether  it  be  in  scholarship,  states- 
manship or  Christian  society.  And  not  unfrequently  do 
we  have  the  visits  of  friends  and  the  honored  representa- 
tives of  the  churches.  One  may  be  much  more  alone  in 
Chicago  or  New  York. 

The  difficulties  of  the  work  in  earlier  years  are  also 
changing.  We  have  a  different  standing  before  the  peo- 
ple among  whom  we  labor.  We  also  have  matured  and 
tested  our  methods  of  operation,  and  can  be  generally 
confident  of  success.  We  have  also  an  ever  increasing 
force  in  the  native  agency,  which  adds  strength  and  hope- 
fulness to  the  campaign.  The  people  we  come  to  conquer 
are  themselves  furnishing  recruits  for  this  war,  so  that  we, 
the  sons  of  the  mission,  stand  among  them  as  captains  of 
the  host,  and  our  fathers  are  as  generals. 

With  such  a  growing  up,  it  would  seem  that  he  was 
attracted  to  the  life  work  of  his  father  and  mother.  And 
yet  our  children  will  all  bear  witness,  that  no  special 
influence  was  ever  used  to  draw  them  into  the  missionary 
work.  Some  ministers'  sons,  I  understand,  have  grown 
up  under  the  burden  of  the  thought  that  they  were  ex- 
pected to  be  ministers.  It  was  certainly  my  endeavor 
not  to  impose  any  such  burden  on  my  boys.  But  we 
certainly  did  desire — and  our  desire  was  not  concealed — 
that  all  our  children  should  develop  into  the  most  noble 


224  MARY    AND    I. 

and  useful  lives,  prepared  to  occupy  any  position  to  which 
they  might  be  called.  Accordingly,  when  a  boy,  while 
pursuing  his  education,  has  shown  a  disposition  "  to  knock 
off,"  I  have  used  what  influence  I  had  to  induce  him  to 
persevere.  But  beyond  this,  it  has  been  my  desire  that 
each  one  should,  under  the  divine  guidance,  choose,  as  is 
their  right  to  do,  what  shall  be  their  line  of  work  in  life. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  but  just  to  myself,  as  well  as  to 
them,  to  say  that  it  gives  me  great  joy,  now  in  my  old 
age,  to  see  so  many  of  Mary's  children  making  the  life 
work  of  their  father  and  mother  their  own. 

This  visit  of  Alfred  to  the  Santee  and  Yankton  Agen- 
cies, was  made  for  the  purpose  of  looking  over  the  field? 
and  forming  an  intelligent  judgment  as  to  whether  the 
way  was  open  and  the  time  had  come  to  commence  some 
higher  educational  work  among  the  Dakotas.  The  place 
for  such  an  effort  was  evidently  the  Santee  Agency.  And 
John  P.  Williamson,  who  had  so  long  and  so  well  carried 
on  the  mission  work  among  the  Santees,  had,  for  several 
years  past,  been  more  and  more'  attracted  to  the  Yank- 
tons,  where  there  was  an  open  door;  and  to  the  Yankton 
Agency  he  had  removed  his  family,  in  the  early  spring, 
before  our  visit.  So  the  hand  of.~>God  had  shaped  the 
work.  It  required  only  that  we  recognize  His  hand,  and 
put  ourselves  in  accord  with  the  manifestations  of  His 
will.  After  a  few  weeks,  Alfred  returned  to  his  people 
in  Woodstock,  and  made  his  arrangements  to  close  his 
labors  there  in  the  following  winter,  when  he  accepted 
an  appointment  from  the  American  Board,  to  take  charge 
of  its  work  at  the  Santee  Agency. 

Our  summer  campaign  now  commenced.  The  Wil- 
liamsons, father  and  son,  with  Titus,  one  of  the  Santee 
pastors,  and  myself,  proceeded  up  the  Missouri.  We 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         225 

made  a  little  stop,  as  we  had  done  in  former  years,  with  the 
Sechangoos,  or  Brules,  near  Fort  Thompson,  preaching  to 
them  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Some  interest  was  apparent. 
At  least,  a  superstitious  reverance  for  the  name  that  is 
above  every  name  was  manifest.  "What  is  the  name?" 
one  asked,  "  I  have  forgotten  it."  And  we  again  told 
them  of  JESUS. 

Our  next  point  was  the  Cheyenne  Agency,  near  Fort 
Sully,  a  hundred  miles  above  Fort  Thompson  at  Crow 
Creek.  There  we  spent  a  week,  and  met  the  Indians  in 
their  Council  House.  Our  efforts  were  in  the  line  of 
sowing  seed,  much  of  which  fell  by  the  way  side,  or  on 
the  stony  places.  And  then  we  passed  on  another  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  agency  at  the  mouth  of  Grand  River, 
where  were  gathered  a  large  number  of  Yanktonais,  as 
well  as  Teetons.  This  agency  is  now  located  farther  up 
the  river,  and  is  called  Standing  Rock.  Among  these 
people  we  found  some  who  desired  instruction,  but  the 
more  part  did  not  want  to  hear.  Our  attempt  to  gather 
them  to  a  Sabbath  meeting  seemed  quite  likely  to  fail. 
But  there  had  been  a  thunder  storm  in  the  early  morning, 
and  out  a  few  miles,  on  a  hill-top,  a  prominent  Dakota 
man  was  struck  down  by  the  lightning.  He  was  brought 
in  to  the  agency,  and  before  his  burial,  at  the  close  of 
the  day,  we  had  a  large  company  of  men  and  women 
to  listen  to  the  divine  words  of  Jesus,  who  is  the  Resur- 
rection and  the  Life.  It  was  an  impressive  occasion, 
and  it  was  said  by  white  men,  that  many  of  those  Indians 
listened  that  day,  for  the  first  time,  to  Christian  song 
and  Christian  prayer.  But  that  agency  has  since  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Catholics,  and  David,  one  of  our 
native  preachers,  who  visited  there  recently,  was  not 
permitted  to  remain. 

15 


226  MARY    AND    I. 

At  this  point — Grand  River — our  company  separated. 
John  P.Williamson  and  Titus  returned  down  the  Missouri, 
and  Dr.  Williamson  and  I  took  a  young  man,  Blue  Bird 
by  name,  and  crossed  over  to  Fort  Wadsworth.  On  Sat- 
urday we  traveled  up  the  Missouri  about  thirty  miles, 
where  we  spent  the  Sabbath,  and  where  we  were  joined 
by  a  Dakota  man  who  was  familiar  with  the  country 
across  to  the  James  River,  and  who  could  find  water  for  us 
in  that  "  dry  and  thirsty  land."  As  we  journeyed  that 
Saturday  afternoon,  the  day  grew  dark,  the  sun  ceased 
to  shine,  our  horses  wanted  to  stop  in  the  road.  It  was  a 
weird,  unnatural  darkness — an  eclipse  of  the  sun.  We 
stopped  and  watched  its  progress.  For  about  five  minutes 
the  eclipse  was  annular — only  a  little  rim  of  light  gleamed 
forth.  The  moon  seemed  to  have  a  cut  in  one  side, 
appearing  much  like  a  thick  cheese  from  which  a  very 
thin  slice  had  bsen  cut  out.  We  all  noted  this  singular 
appearance.  The  Dakotas  on  the  Missouri  represent 
that  year  by  the  symbol  of  a  black  sun  with  stars  shining 
above  it. 

When  we  reached  the  Sisseton  Reservation,  we  held 
our  usual  camp-meeting  again  at  Dry  Wood  Lake,  regu- 
lating and  confirming  the  churches,  and  receiving  quite 
a  number  of  additions,  though  not  so  many  as  in  the 
year  previous.  The  place  for  the  Sisseton  Agency  had 
been  selected,  some  log  buildings  erected,  and  the  agent, 
Dr.  Jared  W.  Daniels,  with  his  family,  was  on  the  ground. 
The  time  seemed  to  have  come,  when,  to  secure  the 
fruits  of  the  harvest,  some  more  permanent  occupation 
should  be  made  in  the  reservation.  Mary  was  gone  up 
higher.  The  boys,  for  whose  sakes,  mainly,  we  had  made 
a  home  in  Beloit,  'were  no  longer  in  college.  Thomas 
had  graduated,  and  spent  a  year  in  teaching  Freedmcn 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         227 

in  Mississippi,  and  was  now  in  the  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary;  while  Henry  had  commenced  to  seek  his  for- 
tune in  other  employment.  Without  apparent  detriment, 
I  could  break  up  housekeeping  in  Beloit,  and  build  at 
Sisseton.  The  plan  was  formed  during  this  visit,  and 
talked  over  with  Dr.  Williamson  and  Agent  Daniels. 
God  willing,  and  the  Prudential  Committee  at  Boston 
approving,  it  was  to  be  carried  into  effect  the  next  spring. 

And  so  I  returned  to  my  home  in  Beloit,  and  went  on 
to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  two  General  Assemblies  at 
Pittsburg,  where  their  union  became  an  accomplished 
fact.  At  the  close  of  this  meeting,  I  spent  a  couple  of 
weeks  in  visiting  friends  in  Fayette  County,  and  the  old 
stone  church  of  Dunlap's  Creek,  which  had  been  the 
church-home  of  my  mother  when  as  yet  she  was  unmar- 
ried. 

For  several  winters  preceding  this,  I  had  been  work- 
ing on  translations  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  and  Eccle- 
siastes  and  Isaiah.  They  were  printed  in  1871.  But  this 
winter  of  1869-'70  was  mostly  spent  with  the  San  tees. 
Mr.  Williamson  had  left  that  place  and  gone  to  the  Yank- 
ton  Agency,  where  he  has  since  continued  with  great 
prosperity  in  the  missionary  work.  And  so  there  came  to 
me  a  pressing  invitation  from  Mrs.  Mary  Francis  Pond 
and  Miss  Julia  La  Framboise,  to  come  out  and  help  them 
that  winter. 

Julia  La  Framboise  was  the  teacher  of  the  mission 
school  at  Santee.  She  was  born  of  a  Dakota  mother,  and 
her  father  always  claimed  that  he  had  Indian  blood 
mixed  with  his  French.  Julia  was  a  noble,  Christian 
woman,  who  had  been  trained  up  in  the  mission  families, 
completing  her  education  at  Miss  Sill's  Seminary,  in 
Rockford,  Illinois.  I  found  them  all  actively  engaged  in 


228  MAKY    AND    I. 

carrying  forward  mission  work.  But  we  conceived 
more  might  be  done,  to  bring  children  into  the  school, 
and  men  and  women  to  the  church.  Accordingly,  I 
called  together  the  pastors  and  elders  of  the  church,  and 
engaged  them  to  enter  upon  a  system  of  thorough  church 
visitation,  which  had  the  effect  of  greatly  increasing  the 
numbers  in  attendance  on  both  the  school  and  the  church. 
Even  then,  as  it  afterward  appeared,  Julia  was  enter- 
ing upon  the  incipient  stages  of  pulmonary  consumption. 
She  was  not  careful  of  herself.  After  teaching  school 
until  one  o'clock,  she  was  ever  ready  to  go  with  the 
Agent's  daughters  to  interpret  for  them  in  the  case  of 
some  sick  person,  or  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  poor. 
Before  I  left  in  March,  her  cough  had  become  alarming. 
And  so  it  increased.  The  second  summer  after  this,  she 
was  obliged  to  stop  work,  and  simply  wait  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  messenger  that  called  her  to  the  Father's 
house  above. 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         229 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

1870-1871.— Beloit  Home  Broken  up.— Building  on  the  Sisseton 
Reserve. — Difficulties  and  Cost. — Correspondence  with  Wash- 
ington.— Order  to  Suspend  Work. — Disregarding  the  Taboo. 
— Anna  Sick  at  Beloit. — Assurance. — Martha  Goes  in  Anna's 
Place. — The  Dakota  Churches. — Lac-qui-parle,  Ascension. — 
John  B.  Renville.— Daniel  Renville.— Houses  of  Worship.— 
Eight  Churches.— The  "Word  Carrier."— Annual  Meeting  on 
the  Big  Sioux. — Homestead  Colony. — How  it  Came  about. — 
Joseph  Iron  Old  Man. — Perished  in  a  Snow  Storm. — The 
Dakota  Mission  Divides. — Reasons  Therefor. 

The  spring  of  1870  brought  with  it  a  breaking  up  of 
the  Beloit  home.  Some  months  before  Mary's  death,  she 
had  invited  to  our  house  an  invalid  niece,  the  daughter 
of  her  older  sister,  Mrs.  Lucretia  Cooley.  A  dear  good 
girl  Mary  Cooley  was.  She  had,  during  the  war,  acted  as 
nurse,  in  the  service  of  the  Christian  Commission.  But 
her  health  failed.  It  was  hoped  that  a  year  in  the  West 
might  build  her  up.  After  her  aunt  had  gone  from  us, 
Mary  Cooley  remained  with  us.  But  the  malady  in- 
creased; and  this  spring  her  brother  Allan  came  and  took 
her  back  to  Massachusetts.  And  now,  only  a  little  while 
ago,  we  heard  of  her  release  in  California,  whither  the 
family  had  removed.  The  good  Lord  had  compassion 
upon  her,  and  took  her  to  a  land  where  no  one  says,  "  I 
am  sick." 

Then   the  house   was   rented.     The    household   goods 
and  household  gods  were  scattered,  the  major  part  be- 


230  MARY    AND    I. 

ing  taken  up  into  the  Indian  country.  Anna  would 
spend  the  summer  with  friends  in  Beloit,  and  Cornelia, 
the  youngest,  I  took  up  to  Minnesota  and  left  with  Martha 
on  the  fi  ontier. 

My  plan  was  to  pt»t  up  two  buildings,  a  dwelling-house 
and  a  school-house,  for  the  erection  of  which  the  Commit- 
tee at  Boston  had  appropriated  twenty- eight  hundred 
dollars.  That  may  seem  quite  an  amount;  but  the  ma- 
terials had  to  be  transported  from  Minneapolis  and  the 
Red  River  of  the  North.  What  I  purchased  at  Minne- 
apolis was  carried  by  rail  and  steamboat  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  There  remained  one  hundred  and  thirty, 
over  which  the  lumber  was  hauled  in  wagons  in  the 
month  of  June,  when  the  roads  were  bad  and  the  streams 
swimming.  And  so  the  cost  was  very  great — dressed 
flooring  coming  up  to  $75  per  1,000  feet;  dressed  siding, 
$65;  shingles  about  $15  per  1,000,  and  common  lumber, 
$60  a  thousand  feet. 

When  the  materials  were  on  the  ground,  but  little 
money  was  left  for  their  erection.  But  with  one  carpen- 
ter and  two  or  three  young  men  to  assist,  I  pushed  for- 
ward the  work,  and  by  the  middle  of  September,  the 
houses  were  up  and  ready  to  be  occupied,  though  in  an 
unfinished  state. 

During  this  time  there  were  some  things  transpired 
which  deserve  to  be  noticed. 

Before  commencing  to  build,  I  had  received  the  written 
approval  of  the  Agent.  In  regard  to  the  locality,  we  dif- 
fered. He  wished  me  to  build  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  agency,  while  I,  for  very  good  reasons,  selected  a 
place  nearly  two  miles  away.  But  that,  I  think,  could 
have  made  no  difference  in  his  feeling  toward  the  enter- 
prise. However,  soon  after  I  commenced,  I  was  visited  by 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          231 

Gabriel  Renville,  who  was  recognized  as  the  head  man  on 
the  reservation.  He  did  not  forbid  my  proceeding,  but 
wanted  to  know  whether  I  had  authority  to  do  so.  I 
replied  that  I  had  the  approval  of  Agent  Daniels,  which 
I  regarded  as  sufficient.  When  I  reported  this  to  Mr. 
Daniels,  he  advised  me  to  write  to  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,  and  obtain  a  permit,  which,  he  said,  might 
save  me  trouble. 

Accordingly,  I  wrote  immediately  to  the  Department 
of  the  Interior,  stating  the  life-long  connection  we  had 
had  with  these  Indians,  and  the  work  we  had  done  among 
them,  and  that  now,  I  was  authorized  by  the  A.  B.  C.  F. 
M.  to  erect  mission  buildings  among  them,  and  asking 
that  our  plan  be  approved. 

After  three  or  four  weeks,  when  I  was  in  the  very  mid- 
dle of  my  work  of  building,  there  came  an  order  from 
Washington  that  I  should  suspend  operations,  until  they 
would  settle  the  question  to  what  religious  denomina- 
tion that  part  of  the  field  should  be  assigned.  That  sub- 
ject was  then  under  advisement,  they  said. 

Should  I  obey?  If  I  did  so,  much  additional  expense 
would  be  incurred,  and  my  summer's  work,  as  planned, 
would  be  a  failure.  Really  no  question  could  be  raised 
about  it.  The  American  Board  had  been  doing  mission- 
ary work  among  those  Indians  for  a  third  of  a  century, 
and  no  other  denomination  or  missionary  board  pretended 
to  have  any  claim  on  the  field.  It  was  unreasonable,  un- 
der the  circumstances,  that  we  should  be  asked  to  sus- 
pend, and  thus  suffer  harm  and  loss.  So  I  placed  my 
letter  safely  away  and  went  on  with  my  work.  No  human 
being  there  knew  that  I  had  received  such  a  command. 

By  the  return  mail,  I  wrote  to  Secretary  Treat,  rehears- 
ing the  whole  case,  and  asking  him,  without  delay,  to  write 


232  MARY    AND    I. 

to  the  authorities  at  Washington.  I  told  him  I  had  con- 
cluded to  disregard  the  Taboo,  and  would  not,  in  conse- 
quence thereof,  drive  a  nail  the  less.  When  the  summer 
months  were  passed,  and  my  houses  were  both  up,  I 
received  a  letter  from  the  Commissioner  commending  my 
work,  and  telling  me  to  go  forward. 

In  the  latter  end  of  August,  there  came  to  me  a  letter 
written  in  a  strange  hand,  saying  that  Anna  was  lying 
sick  at  Mr.  Carr's  of  typhoid  fever.  The  intention  of  the 
letter  evidently  was  not  to  greatly  alarm  me,  but  it  con- 
veyed the  idea  that  she  was  very  sick,  and  the  result  was 
doubtful.  Ten  or  twelve  days  had  passed  since  it  was 
written.  My  affairs  were  not  then  in  a  condition  to  be 
left  without  much  damage,  and  so  I  determined  to  await 
the  coming  of  another  mail.  When  I  heard  again,  a 
week  later,  there  was  no  decided  change  for  the  better. 
So  the  letter  read.  But  in  the  meantime,  this  word  had 
come  to  me — "  This  sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  for 
the  glory  of  God."  It  came  to  me  like  a  revelation.  I 
seemed  to  know  it.  It  quieted  my  alarm.  All  anxiety 
was  not  taken  away,  but  my  days  passed  in  comparatively 
quiet  trust.  About  the  middle  of  September  I  started 
down  with  my  own  team,  and,  on  reaching  St.  Peter  and 
Mankato,  I  received  letters  from  Anna  written  with  her 
own  hand.  She  had  come  up  gradually,  but  a  couple  of 
months  passed  before  she  was  strong. 

Before  I  commenced  building  at  Good  Will,  which  was 
the  name  we  gave  to  our  new  statior,  the  understanding 
was  that  Anna  would  be  married  in  the  coming  autumn, 
and  she  and  her  husband  would  take  charge  of  the  mis- 
sion work  there.  Anna  seemed  to  have  grown  up  into 
the  idea  that  her  life-work  was  to  be  with  the  Dakotas. 
But  it  was  otherwise  ordered.  In  the  October  following, 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX  233 

when  we  all  again  met  in  Beloit,  she  was  married  to  H. 
E.  Warner,  who  had  lost  an  arm  in  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  they  have  since  made  their  home  in  Iowa. 

Martha  Taylor  Riggs  had  been  married  to  Wyllys  K. 
Morris,  in  December,  1866.  For  a  time  they  made  their 
home  in  Mankato,  Minnesota,  and  then  removed  to  a  farm 
twenty  miles  from  town.  Life  on  the  extreme  frontier 
they  found  filled  with  privations  and  hardships,  and  so 
were  quite  willing  to  accept  the  new  place;  and  before 
the  winter  set  in,  they  were  removed  to  Good  WilL 
Robert,  who  had  gone  up  after  his  mother's  death,  and 
spent  a  year  with  Martha  at  Sterling,  returned  to  Beloit, 
and  entered  the  preparatory  department  of  the  college* 
Cornelia  went  with  us  to  Good  Will,  and  remained  two 
years. 

The  Home  was  again  in  Dakota  land.  We  at  once 
opened  a  school,  which  has  since  been  taught  almost  en- 
tirely by  W.  K.  Morris.  The  native  churches  needed  a 
good  deal  of  attention.  At  Lac-qui-parle  a  number  of 
families  had  stopped  and  taken  claims.  There  a  church 
was  organized  of  about  forty  members,  which,  for  two  or 
three  years,  was  in  the  charge  of  Rev.  John  B.  Renville, 
But  about  this  time  Mr.  Renville  removed  to  the  Reser- 
vation, and  from  that  time  the  Dakota  settlement  grad- 
ually diminished,  until  all  had  removed,  and  the  Lac- 
qui-parle  church  was  absorbed  by  those  on  the  Reserve. 

ASCENSION,  or  lyakaptape,  so  named  from  its  having 
been,  from  time  immemorial,  the  place  where  the  Coteau 
was  ascended  by  the  Dakotas  on  their  way  westward,  was 
the  district  in  which  a  number  of  the  Renville  families 
took  claims.  Daniel  Renville,  one  of  our  licentiates,  had 
been  preaching  to  the  church  gathered  there.  But  it  was 
understood  all  along  that  John  B.  Renville  was  to  be 


234:  MARY   AND    I. 

their  pastor.  And  so  it  came  about,  as  he  now  transferred 
his  home  to  that  settlement. 

In  the  spring  of  1863,  Mr.  Renville  had  purchased  a 
little  house  in  St.  Anthony,  where  they  made  their  home 
for  several  years,  Mrs.  Renville  teaching  a  school  of  white 
children  for  a  part  of  the  time.  Removing  from  there, 
they  pre-empted  a  piece  of  land  on  Beaver  Creek.  Dur- 
ing these  years  they  had  in  their  family  from  four  to  six 
half-breed  or  Dakota  children,  whom  they  taught  English 
very  successfully,  and  for  the  most  part,  maintained  them 
out  of  their  own  scanty  means.  While  living  in  St. 
Anthony,  Mr.  Renville  had  translated  "  Precept  upon 
Precept,"  which  was  printed  in  Boston,  and  became 
thenceforth  one  of  our  Dakota  school-books. 

As  Mr.  Daniel  Renville  was  now  released  from  labor  at 
Ascension,  I  proposed  his  name  to  the  Good  Will  church, 
and  advised  them  to  elect  him  to  be  their  religious 
teacher.  But  when  the  election  took  place,  they  all  voted 
for  me.  I  thanked  them  for  the  honor  they  did  me,  and 
told  them  that  it  could  not  be.  Our  plan  of  missionary 
work  was  changed.  Henceforth  the  preaching  and  pas- 
toral work  were  to  be  done  almost  exclusively  by  men  from 
among  themselves.  It  was  better  for  them  that  it  should 
be  so,  for  only  in  that  way  would  they  learn  to  support 
their  own  gospel.  We  missionaries  had  never  asked  them 
to  contribute  anything  toward  our  support.  It  was 
manifestly  incongruous  that  we  should  do  so.  And  yet, 
they  were  so  far  advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  Christian 
duties,  that  they  ought  to  assume  the  burden  of  contrib- 
uting to  the  support  of  their  own  religious  teachers.  It 
would  be  a  means  of  grace  to  them.  Moreover,  a  man 
who  spoke  the  language  natively  had  great  advantage 
over  us,  both  in  preaching  and  pastoral  work. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  235 

When  I  had  made  this  speech  to  them,  they  went 
again  into  an  election,  and  chose  Daniel  Renville  to  be 
their  pastor.  He  was  soon  afterward  ordained  and 
installed  by  the  Dakota  Presbytery,  and  continued  with 
the  Good  Will  church  about  six  years.  Previous  to  this 
time,  the  original  Dakota  Presbytery  had  been  divided 
into  the  Mankato  and  Dakota,  the  latter  of  which  was 
again  confined  to  the  Dakota  field,  as  it  had  been  when 
first  formed  in  1845. 

At  this  time  Solomon  was  the  pastor  of  the  Long  Hol- 
low church,  and  Louis  was  stated  supply  at  Fort  Wads- 
worth,  or  Kettle  Lakes,  and  Thomas  Good  a  licentiate 
preacher  at  Buffalo  Lake.  Sometime  after  this  the 
Mayasan  church  was  organized,  and  Louis  called  to  take 
charge  of  it,  David  Gray  Cloud  coming  into  his  place  at 
Fort  Wadsworth. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  had 
set  on  foot  their  Million  Thank  Offering  effort,  which  was 
available  for  poor  churches  in  erecting  houses  of  worship. 
By  means  of  this  outside  help,  the  Ascension  church  and 
the  Long  Hollow  church,  as  well  as  the  Homestead  Set- 
tlement church  on  the  Big-  Sioux,  were  enabled  to  build 
houses — two  of  them  of  logs.  The  building  at  Long 
Hollow  continues  to  be  occupied  by  the  church,  while  the 
other  two  houses  have  given  place  to  larger  and  better 
frame  buildings. 

In  the  spring  of  1871  our  Dakota  church  organizations 
were  eight,  viz:  The  Pilgrim  Church,  at  Santee,  with 
267  members;  Rev.  Artemas  Ehnamane  and  Rev.  Titus 
Ichadooze,  pastors;  The  Flandreau  or  River  Bend  church, 
on  the  Big  Sioux,  with  107  members,  Joseph  Iron-old- 
man,  pastor  elect;  the  Lac-qui-parle  church,  with  41 
members,  now  without  a  pastor;  the  Ascension  church, 


236  MARY    AND    I. 

on  the  Sisseton  Reservation,  with  69  members,  Rev.  John 
B.  Renville,  pastor;  the  Dry  Wood  Lake  or  Good  Will 
church,  with  42  members,  Rev.  Daniel  Renvilie,  pastor; 
the  Long  Hollow  church,  with  80  members,  Rev.  Solomon 
Toonkan-shaecheya,  pastor;  the  Kettle  Lakes  or  Fort 
Wadsworth  church,  with  38  members,  Rev.  Louis  Maza- 
wakinyanna,  stated  supply;  and  the  recently  organized 
church  at  Yankton  Agency,  with  19  members,  in  charge 
of  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson. 

In  the  month  of  May  of  this  year,  the  first  number  of 
the  "lap!  Oaye  "  app?ared.  It  was  a  very  modest  little 
sheet  of  four  pages,  eight  by  ten  inches,  and  altogether 
in  the  Dakota  language,  with  the  motto,  "  Taku  washta  o- 
kiya,  taku  shecha  kepajin,"  which,  being  interpreted, would 
read,  "  To  help  what  is  good,  to  oppose  what  is  bad." 
Rev.  John  P.  Williamson,  who  had  the  sole  charge  of  it 
for  the  first  twelve  numbers,  in  his  first  Dakota  editorial, 
thus  accounts  for  its  origin:  "For  three  years  I  have 
prepared  a  little  tract  at  New  Year,  which  Mr.  E.  R 
Pond  printed,  and  I  distributed  gratuitously  to  all  who 
could  read  Dakota.  And  many  persons  liked  it,  and 
some  said,  c  If  we  had  a  newspaper,  we  would  pay  for  it.' 
I  have  trusted  to  the  truth  of  this  saying,  and  so  this 
winter  have  been  preparing  to  print  one.  But  I  have 
found  many  obstacles  in  the  way,  aid  have  not  gotten 
out  the  first  number  until  now."  As  it  was  to  be  the 
means  of  conveying  the  thoughts  and  speech  of  one  per- 
son to  another,  it  was  proper,  he  said,  to  call  it  "  lapi 
Oaye,"  or  "  Word  Carrier."  The  subscription  price  was 
placed  at  fifty  cents  a  year.  This  was  not  increased  after 
the  paper  was  doubled  in  size,  as  it  was  the  first  of  Jan- 
uary, 1873,  at  the  commencement  of  the  second  volume. 
When  this  change  was  made,  I  was  taken  in  as  associate 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          237 

editor,  and  henceforth,  about  one-third  of  the  letter  press 
was  to  be  in  the  English  language.  By  this  means,  we 
could  communicate  missionary  intelligence  to  white  peo- 
ple, and  thus  secure 'their  aid  in  supporting  the  paper,  as 
well  as  extend  the  interest  in  our  work.  And  as  an 
attraction  to  the  Dakotas,  a  full-page  picture  has  been 
generally  added. 

In  starting  the  paper,  the  main  object  proposed  was  to 
stimulate  education  among  the  Dakotas,  so  that  we  were 
not  disappointed  to  find  that,  in  addition  to  all  that  came 
in  from  subscriptions,  several  hundred  dollars  were  re- 
quired from  missionary  funds  to  square  up  the  year. 
JBut  we  lived  in  hope,  and  do  so  still,  that  the  time  will 
come  when  the  enterprise  will  be  self-supporting.  It  has 
proved  itself  to  be  an  exceedingly  important  assistant  in 
our  missionary  work,  which  we  cannot  afford  to  let  die. 

With  the  homesteaders  on  the  Big  Sioux,  on  the  23d 
of  June,  1871,  we  held  our  first  General  Conference  of  the 
Dakota  churches.  From  the  Sisseton  Agency  there  went 
down  John  B.  Renville,  Daniel  Renville,  and  Solomon, 
of  the  pastors,  with  several  elders  and  myself.  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson came  up  from  St.  Peter;  and  John  P.  Williamson, 
A.  L.  Riggs,  and  Artemas  Ehnamane  and  others  came 
over  from  the  Missouri  River.  Year  by  year,  from  that 
time  on,  we  have  continued  to  hold  these  meetings,  and 
they  have  constantly  increased  in  interest  and  impor- 
tance. On  this  first  occasion,  four  or  five  days  were 
spent,  and  religious  meetings  held  each  day.  The  cir- 
cumstances by  which  we  were  surrounded  intensified  the 
interest.  As  yet  there  was  no  church  or  school-house  in 
which  we  could  assemble,  and  our  meetings  were  held 
out  of  doors,  or  under  a  booth  in  connection  with  Mr. 
All  Irons  cabin. 


238  MARY    AND    I. 

This  colony,  of  more  than  one  hundred  church  members, 
had  located  near  the  eastern  line  of  Dakota  Territory,  in 
the  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  of  the  Big  Sioux  River. 
Their  settlement  lay  along  that  stream  for  twenty-five 
or  thirty  miles,  its  center  being  about  forty  miles  above 
the  thriving  town  of  Sioux  Falls. 

The  most  of  these  men  were,  in  1862,  engaged  in  the 
Sioux  outbreak  in  Minnesota.  For  three  years  they 
were  held  in  military  prisons.  Meanwhile  their  families 
and  the  remnants  of  their  tribe  had  been  deported  to  the 
Missouri  River;  so  that  when  they  found  themselves 
together  again,  it  was  at  Niobrara,  Nebraska,  or  soon 
afterward,  at  the  newly  established  Santee  Agency  a  few 
miles  below. 

What  impulse  stirred  them  up  to  break  away  from 
their  own  tribe,  to  which  they  had  but  just  returned,  and 
try  the  hard  work  of  making  a  home  among  coldly  dis- 
posed, if  riot  hostile,  whites?  What  made  them  leave  all 
their  old  traditional  ties  and  relationships  and  go  forth  as 
strangers  and  wanderers?  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
they  left  behind  them  the  food,  which  the  Government 
issued  weekly  on  the  Agency,  to  seek  a  very  precarious 
living  by  farming,  for  which  they  had  neither  tools  nor 
teams.  They  also  gave  up  the  advantage  of  the  yearly 
issue  of  clothing,  and  the  prospect  of  such  considerable 
gifts  of  horses,  oxen,  cows,  wagons,  and  plows,  as  were 
distributed  occasionally  on  the  Agency.  More  than  this: 
Those  who  had  already  received  such  gifts  from  the 
United  States  Indian  Civilization  Fund  had  to  leave  all 
behind,  though  they  went  out  for  the  very  purpose  of 
seeking  a  higher  civilization.  They  went  forth  in  the 
face,  moreover,  of  great  opposition  and  derision  from  the 
chiefs  of  their  tribe.  The  United  States  Indian  Agent 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  '239 

was  also  against  them.  Whence  then  did  they  have  the 
strength  of  purpose  which  enabled  them  to  face  all  this 
opposition,  brave  all  these  dangers? 

The  germs  of  this  movement  are  only  to  be  found  in 
the  resolves  for  a  new  life  made  by  these  men  when  in 
prison!  There  all  were  nominally,  and  the  larger  part 
were  really,  converted  to  Christ.  All  of  them,  in  some 
sense,  experienced  a  conversion  of  thought  and  purpose. 
There  they  agreed  to  abolish  all  the  old  tribal  arrange- 
ments and  customs.  Old  things  were  to  be  done  away, 
and  all  things  were  to  become  new.  And  as  they  had 
been  electing  their  church  officers,  so  they  would  elect 
£he  necessary  civil  officers. 

But  when  they  came  to  their  people  they  found  the  old 
Indian  system  in  full  power,  backed  by  the  authority  of 
the  United  States.  Of  the  old  chiefs  who  ruled  them  in 
Minnesota,  Little  Crow  and  Little  Six,  the  leaders  of  the 
rebellion,  were  dead;  but  the  others,  who  had  been  kept 
out  of  active  participation,  not  by  their  loyalty  to  the 
United  States,  but  by  their  jealousy  of  these  leaders,  had 
saved  their  necks  and  were  again  in  power.  A  few  had 
been  appointed  to  vacancies  by  the  United  States  Agent, 
and  the  ring  was  complete.  And  our  friends  were  com- 
manded at  once  to  fall  in  under  the  old  chiefs  before  they 
could  receive  any  rations.  They  must  be  Indians  or 
starve!  Nothing  was  to  be  hoped  for  from  within  the 
tribe,  nor  from  Washington.  The  Indian  principle  was 
regnant  there  also.  Nothing  was  left  to  them  but  to  seek 
some  other  land.  One  said,  "  I  could  not  bear  to  have 
my  children  grow  up  nothing  but  Indians;"  so  they  all 
felt. 

They  made  their  hegira  in  March,  1869.  In  this  re- 
gion this  is  the  worst  month  in  the  year,  but  they  had  to 


240  MARY   AND    I. 

take  advantage  of  the  absence  of  their  agent  and  the 
chiefs  at  Washington.  Twenty-five  families  went  in  this 
company.  A  few  had  ponies,  but  they  mostly  took  their 
way  on  foot,  packing  their  goods  and  children  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  miles  over  the  Dakota  prairies.  About 
midway  a  fearful  snow-storm  burst  upon  them.  They 
lost  their  way,  and  one  woman  froze  to  death.  The  next 
autumn  fifteen  other  families  joined  them,  and  twenty 
more  followed  the  year  after.  Even  one  of  the  chiefs,  find- 
ing the  movement  likely  to  succeed,  left  his  chieftainship 
and  its  emoluments,  to  join  them.  He  thought  it  more 
to  be  a  man  than  to  be  a  chief. 

Existence  was  a  hard  struggle  for  several  years;  for 
these  Indians  had  neither  plows  nor  working  teams.  But 
they  exchanged  work  with  their  white  neighbors,  and  so 
had  a  little  "  breaking  "  done.  And  in  the  fall  and  early 
spring  they  went  trapping,  and  by  this  means  raised  a 
little  money  to  pay  entry  fees  on  their  lands  and  buy 
their  clothes.  On  one  of  these  hunting  expeditions,  Iron 
Old- man,  the  acting  pastor  of  their  church  and  a  leader 
in  the  colony,  was  overtaken,  while  chasing  elk,  by  one 
of  the  Dakota  "  blizzards,"  and  he  and  his  companion  in 
the  hunt  perished  in  the  snow-drifts. 

JOSEPH  IRON  OLD  MAN  was  not  an  old  man,  notwith- 
standing his  name,  but  a  man  in  middle  life.  He  had 
been  a  Hoonkayape  or  elder  in  the  prison,  re-elected  on 
the  consolidation  of  the  Pilgrim  Church  in  Nebraska,  and 
thus  elected  to  the  same  office  a  third  time  in  the  River 
Bend  church  on  the  Big  Sioux.  After  this,  when  the 
church  met  to  elect  a  religious  teacher,  he  was  chosen 
almost  unanimously.  It  was  expected  that  the  Presby- 
tery would  have  confirmed  the  action  of  the  church,  at 
this  gathering  in  June.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  On  the 


FORTY  YEAES  WITH  THE  SIOUX.        241 

7th  day  of  April,  when  it  was  bright  and  warm,  he  and 
another  Dakota  man,  as  they  were  out  hunting,  came 
upon  a  half  a  dozen  elk.  They  chased  them  first  on 
horseback,  until  their  horses  were  jaded.  Then,  leaving 
the  horses,  they  kept  up  the  pursuit  on  foot,  in  the  mean- 
time divesting  themselves  of  all  superfluous  clothing.  In 
this  condition,  the  storm  came  upon  them  suddenly,  when 
they  were  out  in  the  open  prairie  between  the  Big  Sioux 
and  the  James  River.  Escape  was  impossible,  and  to 
live  through  the  storm  and  cold  in  their  condition  was 
equally  impossible,  even  for  an  Indian.  Far  and  near 
their  friends  hunted,  but  did  not  find  them  until  the  first 
day  of  May. 

So  the  hopes  and  plans  of  the  colony  and  the  church 
were  disappointed.  At  our  'meeting,  we  expressed  sor- 
row and  sympathy,  and  endeavored  to  lead  the  people  to 
a  higher  trust  in  God.  The  young  men  might  fail  and 
fall,  but  the  command  was  still,  "  Hope  thou  in  God." 
Before  we  left  them,  they  elected  another  leader — Wil- 
liamson O.  Rogers — Mr.  All  Iron. 

The  Dakota  mission  had  been,  from  its  commencement, 
under  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions.  As  Presbyterians,  we  had  been  connected 
with  the  New  School  branch.  But  now  the  two  schools 
had  been  united.  Many — nay  most — of  the  New 
School  Assembly,  who  had  worked  with  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  now  thought  it  their  duty  to  withdraw,  and 
connect  themselves  and  their  contributions  with  the  As- 
sembly's Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  plowshare 
must  be  run  through  the  mission  fields  also.  We  in  the 
Dakota  mission  were  invited  to  transfer  our  relations. 
The  Prudential  Committee  at  Boston  left  us  to  act  out 

our  own  sweet  will.     Dr.  T.  S.  Williamson  and  Rev.  John 
16 


242  MARY    AND    I. 

P.  Williamson  elected  to  go  over  to  the  Presbyterian 
Board.  For  myself  I  did  not  care  to  do  so.  Although 
conscientiously  a  Presbyterian,  I  was  not,  and  am  not,  so 
much  of  one  as  to  draw  me  away  from  the  associations 
which  had  been  growing  for  a  third  of  a  century.  Whether 
I  reasoned  rightly  or  wrongly,  I  conceived  that  I  had  a 
character  with  the  American  Board  that  I  could  not  trans- 
fer; and  I  was  too  old  to  build  up  another  reputation. 
Besides,  Alfred  L.  Riggs  had  now  joined  the  mission,  and 
as  a  Congregational  minister  he  could  do  no  otherwise 
than  retain  his  connection  with  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

The  case  was  a  plain  one.  We  divided.  Some  ques- 
tions then  came  up  as  to  the  field  and  the  work.  These 
were  very  soon  amicably  settled,  on  a  basis  which,  so  far 
as  I  know,  has  continued  to  be  satisfactory  from  that  day 
to  this.  The  churches  on  the  Sisseton  Reservation  and 
at  the  Santee  were  to  continue  in  connection  with  the 
American  Board;  while  the  Big  Sioux  and  Yankton 
Agency  churches  would  be  counted  as  under  the  Presby- 
terian Board.  Henceforth,  in  regard  to  common  expenses 
of  Dakota  publications,  they  were  to  bear  one-third,  and 
we  two-thirds.  And  so  it  is  still. 


FORTY   YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  243 

t 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1870-1873.— A.  L.  Riggs  Builds  at  Santee.— The  Santee  High 
School. — Visit  to  Fort  Sully. — Change  of  Agents  at  Sisseton. 
— Second  Marriage. — Annual  Meeting  at  Good  Will.— Grand 
Gathering. — New  Treaty  Made  at  Sisseton. — Nina  Foster 
Riggs. — Our  Trip  to  Fort  Sully. — An  Incident  by  the  Way.— 
Stop  at  Santee. — Pastor  Ehnarnane. — His  Deer  Hunt. — An- 
nual Meeting  in  1873.— Rev.  S.  J.  Humphrey's  Visit.— Mr. 
Humphrey's  Sketch. — Where  They  Come  From. — Morning 
Call. — Visiting  the  Teepees. — The  Religious'Gathering. — The 
Moderator. — Questions  Discussed  — The  Personnel. — Putting 
Up  a  Tent. — Sabbath  Service. — Mission  Reunion. 

From  Flandreau  the  Dakota  Homestead  Settlement  on 
the  Big  Sioux,  I  accompanied  A.  L.  Riggs  and  J.  P.  Wil- 
liamson to  the  Missouri.  A  year  before  this  time,  in  the 
month  of  May,  1870,  Alfred  had  removed  his  family  from 
Woodstock,  Illinois,  to  the  Santee  Agency.  The  mission 
buildings  heretofore  had  been  of  the  cheapest  kind,  only 
one  small  house  had  a  shingle  roof;  the  rest  were  "  shacks." 
Before  his  arrival,  some  preparation  had  been  made  for 
building — logs  of  cottonwood  had  been  cut  and  hauled 
to  the  government  saw-mill.  These  were  cut  up  into 
framing  lumber.  The  pine  boards  and  all  finishing  ma- 
terials were  taken  up  from  Yankton,  and  Sioux  City  and 
Chicago,  and  so  he  proceeded  to  erect  a  family  dwelling, 
and  a  school-house,  which  could  be  used  for  church  pur. 
poses. 

These   were  so  far  finished  as  to  be  occupied  in  the 


244  MARY   AND   I. 

autumn;  and  a  school  was  opened  with  better  accommo- 
dations and  advantages  than  heretofore.  In  the  Decem- 
ber "  lapi  Oaj^e,"  there  appeared  a  notice  of  the  Santee 
High  School,  Rev.  A.  L.  Higgs  Principal,  with  Eli 
Abraham  and  Albert  Frazier  assistants.  The  advertise- 
ment said,  "  If  any  one  should  give  you  a  deer,  you 
would  probably  say,  'you  make  me  glad.'  But  how 
much  more  would  you  be  glad,  if  one  should  teach  you 
how  to  hunt  and  kill  many  deer.  So  likewise,  if  one 
should  teach  you  a  little  wisdom  he  would  make  you  glad, 
but  you  would  be  more  glad  if  one  taught  you  how  to 
acquire  knowledge."  This  the  Santee  High  School  pro- 
posed to  do. 

On  reaching  the  Santee,  I  met  by  appointment  Thomas 
L.  Riggs,  who  had  come  on  from  Chicago  at  the  end  of 
his  second  Seminary  year.  Together  we  proceeded  up  to 
Fort  Sully,  where  we  spent  a  good  part  of  the  summer 
that  remained.  But  this,  with  what  came  of  our  visit, 
will  be  related  in  a  following  chapter.  In  the  autumn  I 
returned  to  Good  Will,  and  the  winter  was  one  of  work, 
on  the  line  which  we  had  been  following. 

During  the  early  part  of  this  winter  1871-'72,  a  change 
was  made  of  agents  at  Sisseton;  Dr.  J.  W.  Daniels  re- 
signed, and  Rev.  M.  N.  Adams  came  in  his  place.  Dr. 
Daniels  was  Bishop  Whipple's  appointee,  and  as  the 
Episcopalians  were  not  engaged  in  the  missionary  work 
on  this  Reservation,  it  was  evidently  proper,  under  the 
existing  circumstances,  that  the  selection  should  be  ac- 
corded to  the  American  Board.  As,  many  years  before, 
Mr.  Adams  had  been  a  missionary  among  a  portion  of 
these  people,  he  came  as  United  States  Indian  Agent, 
with  an  earnest  wish  to  forward,  in  all  proper  ways,  the 
cause  of  education  and  civilization,  and  the  general  up- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THK  SIOUX.         245 

lifting:  of  the  whole  people.  He  met  with  a  gootfdeal  of 
opposition,  but  continued  to  be  agent  more  than  three 
years,  and  left  many  memorials  of  his  interest  and  effi- 
ciency, in  the  school-houses  he  erected,  as  well  as  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Christian  people. 

The  object  that  had  been  paramount  in  taking  our 
family  to  Beloit  in  1865,  was  but  partly  accomplished 
when  Mary  died  in  the  spring  of  1869.  Since  that  time 
three  years  had  passed.  Robert  had  gone  back  to  Beloit 
to  school,  and  was  now  ready  to  enter  the  Freshman  class 
of  the  college.  Corneille  was  in  her  fourteenth  year,  and 
her  education  only  fairly  begun.  It  was  needful  that  she 
should  have  the  advantages  of  a  good  school.  To  accom- 
plish my  desire  for  their  education,  it  seemed  best  to 
reoccupy  our  Vacant  house.  That  spring  of  1872,  I  was 
commissioner  from  the  Dakota  Presbytery  to  the  General 
Assembly,  which  met  in  Detroit.  At  the  close  of  the 
Assembly,  I  went  down  to  Granville,  Ohio,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  an  arrangement  previously  made,  I  married 
Mrs.  Annie  Baker  Ackley,  who  had  once  been  a  teacher 
with  us  at  Hazelwood,  and  more  recently  had  spent  sev- 
eral years  in  the  employ  of  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  in  teaching  the  Freedmen.  We  at  once 
proceeded  to  the  Good  Will  mission  station,  where  the 
summer  was  spent,  and  then  in  the  autumn,  opened  our 
house  in  Beloit. 

The  meeting  of  the  ministers  and  elders  and  represen- 
tatives of  the  Dakota  churches,  which  was  held  with  the 
River  Bend  church  on  the  Big  Sioux,  had  been  found 
very  profitable  to  all.  At  that  time  a  like  conference  had 
been  arranged  for,  to  meet  on  the  25th  of  June,  1872, 
with  the  church  of  Good  Will,  on  the  Sisseton  Reserva- 
tion. The  announcement  was  made  in  the  April  "lapi 


246  MARY   AND    I. 

Oaye."  In  the  invitation  nine  churches  are  mentioned; 
viz.,  The  Santee,  Yankton,  River  Bend,  Lac-qui-parle, 
Ascension,  Good  Will,  Buffalo  Lake,  Long  Hollow, 
and  Kettle  Lakes.  It  was  said  that  subjects  interesting 
and  profitable  to  all  would  be  discussed;  and  especially 
was  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  desired  and  prayed 
for,  since  without  God  present  with  us,  the  assembly 
would  be  only  a  dead  body. 

In  the  green  month  of  June,  when  the  roses  on  the 
prairie  began  to  bloom,  then  they  began  to  assemble  to 
our  Dakota  Conference.  Dr.  T.  S.  Williamson  came  up 
from  his  home  at  St.  Peter — 200  miles.  John  P.  "William- 
son, from  the  Yankton  Agency,  and  A.  L.  Riggs,  from 
Santee,  brought  with  them  Rev.  Joseph  Ward,  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  church  in  Yankton.  As  they  came 
by  Sioux  Falls  and  Flandreau,  their  whole  way  would  not 
be  much  under  300  miles.  Thomas  L.  Riggs,  who  had 
commenced  his  new  station  in  the  close  of  the  winter, 
came  across  the  country  from  Fort  Sully  on  horseback,  a 
distance  of  about  220  miles,  having  with  him  a  Dakota 
guide  and  soldier  guard.  They  rode  it  in  less  than  five 
days.  From  all  parts  came  the  Dakota  pastors  and  elders 
and  messengers  of  the  churches.  The  gathering  was  so 
large  that  a  booth  was  made  for  the  Sabbath  service.  It 
was  an  inspiration  to  us  all.  It  was  unanimously  voted 
to  hold  the  next  year's  meeting  with  the  Yanktons  at  the 
Yankton  Agency. 

At  the  Sisseton  Agency,  in  the  month  of  September, 
a  semi-treaty  was  made  by  Agents  M.  N.  Adams  and 
W.  H.  Forbes,  and  James  Smith,  Jr.,  of  St.  Paul,  United 
States  Commissioners, with  the  Dakota  Indians  of  the  Lake 
Traverse  and  Devil's  Lake  Reservations,  by  which  they 
relinquish  all  their  claim  on  the  country  of  Northeastern 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  247 

Dakota  through  which  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  runs. 
By  this  arrangement,  education  would  have  been  made 
compulsory,  and  the  men  would  have  been  enabled  to 
obtain  patents  for  their  land  within  some  reasonable 
time;  but  the  senate  struck  out  everything  except  the 
ceding  of  the  land  and  the  compensation  therefor.  Our 
legislators  do  not  greatly  desire  that  Indians  should  be- 
come white  men. 

When  Thanksgiving  Day  came  this  year,  Mr.  Adams 
dedicated  a  fine  brick  school-house,  which  he  had  that 
summer  erected,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  agency.  Of  this 
occasion  he  wrote,  "  It  was  indeed  a  day  of  thanksgiving 
and  praise  with  us,  and  to  me  an  event  of  the  deepest 
interest.  And  I  hope  that  good  and  lasting  impressions 
were  made  there  upon  the  minds  of  some  of  this  people." 

In  the  work  of  Bible  translation,  I  had  been  occupied 
with  the  book  of  Daniel  in  the  summer,  and,  in  the  winter 
that  followed,  my  first  copy  of  the  Minor  Prophets  was 
made.  When  the  spring  came,  I  hied  away  to  the  Dako- 
ta country.  This  time  my  course  was  to  the  Missouri 
River.  Thomas  had  been  married  in  Bangor,  Maine,  to 
Nina  Foster,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  B.  Foster,  and  sister 
of  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Howard,  of  the  "Advance."  They  came 
west,  and  as  the  winter  was  not  yet  past,  Thomas  went 
on  from  Chicago  alone,  and  Nina  remained  with  her  sister 
until  navigation  should  open.  And  so  it  came  to  pass 
that  she  and  I  were  company  for  each  other  to  Fort  Sully. 

As  we  left  Yankton  in  the  stage  for  Santee,  where  we 
were  to  stop  a  few  days  and  wait  for  an  up-river  boat,  an 
incident  occurred  which  must  have  been  novel  to  the  girl 
from  Bangor.  The  day  was  just  breaking  when  the 
stage  had  made  out  its  complement  of  passengers,  except 
one.  There  were  six  men  on  the  two  seats  before  us, 


24:8  MARY    AND    I. 

and  Nina  and  I  were  behind.  At  a  little  tavern  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  town,  the  ninth  passenger  was  taken  in. 
As  he  came  out,  we  could  see  that  he  was  the  worse  for 
drinking.  I  at  once  shoved  over  to  the  middle  of  the 
seat,  and  let  him  in  by  my  side.  He  turned  out  to  be 
a  burly  French  half-breed,  or  a  Frenchman  who  had  a 
Dakota  family.  We  had  gone  but  a  little  distance,  when 
he  said  he  was  going  to  smoke.  I  objected  to  his  smok- 
ing inside  the  stage.  He  begged  the  lady's  pardon  a 
thousand  times,  but  said  he  must  smoke.  By  this  time  he , 
had  hunted  in  his  pockets,  but  did  not  find  his  pipe. 
"O  mon  pipe!"  The  stage-driver  must  turn  around  and 
go  back — it  cost  $75.  He  worked  himself  and  the  rest 
of  us  into  quite  an  excitement.  By  and  by  he  said  to 
me:  "Do  you  know  who  I  am?"  I  said  I  did  not.  He 
said,  "  I  am  Red  Cloud,  and  I  have  killed  a  great  many 
white  men."  "  Ah,"  said  I,  "you  are  Red  Cloud?  I  do 
not  believe  you  can  talk  Dakota" — and  immediately  I 
commenced  talking  Dakota.  He  turned  around  and 
stared  at  me.  "Who  are  you?"  he  said.  From  that  mo- 
ment he  was  my  friend,  and  ever  so  good. 

It  was  now  the  month  of  May,  but  there  were  deep 
snow  banks  still  in  the  ravines  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river.  A  terrible  storm  had  swept  over  the  country  from 
the  northeast  about  the  middle  of  April.  A  hundred 
Indian  ponies,  and  forty  or  fifty  head  of  cattle,  at  the 
Santee  Agency,  had  perished.  This  made  spring  work 
go  heavily. 

I  was  interested  in  examining  the  building  erected  last 
summer  for  the  girls'  boarding  school.  It  should  have 
been  completed  before  the  winter  came  on,  according  to 
the  agreement.  But  now  it  is  intended  to  have  it  ready 
for  occupancy  the  first  of  September.  When  finished,  it 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  249 

will  accommodate  twenty  or  twenty-four  girls  and  also 
the  lady  teachers. 

On  the  Sabbath  we  spent  there,  I  preached  in  the 
morning,  and  Pastor  Artemas  Ehnamane  preached  in  the 
afternoon.  The  "  Word  Carrier  "  tells  a  good  story  of  this 
Santee  pastor.  In  his  younger  days,  Ehnamane  was  one 
of  the  best  Dakota  hunters.  Tall  and  straight  as  an 
arrow,  he  was  literally  as  swift  as  a  deer.  And  he  learned 
to  use  a  gun  with  wonderful  precision.  Only  a  few  years 
before  this  time,  I  was  traveling  with  him,  when,  in  the 
evening,  he  took  his  gun  and  went  around  a  lake,  and 
brought  into  camp  twelve  large  ducks.  He  had  shot 
three  times. 

Well,  in  the  fall  of  1872  his  church  gave  him  a  vaca- 
tion of  six  week?,  and  "  he  turned  his  footsteps  to  the 
wilds  of  the  Running  Water,  where  his  heart  grew  young, 
and  his  rifle  cracked  the  death-knell  of  the  deer  and  an- 
telope." 

"  Being  on  the  track  of  the  hostile  Sioux  who  go  to 
fight  the  Pawnees,  one  evening  he  found  himself  near  a 
camp  of  the  wild  Brules.  He,  was  weak,  they  were 
strong,  and  perhaps  hostile.  It  was  time  for  him  to  show 
his  colors.  His  kettles  were  filled  to  the  brim.  The 
proud  warriors  were  called,  and  as  they  filled  their  mouths 
with  his  savory  meat,  he  filled  their  ears  with  the  sound 
of  the  gospel  trumpet,  and  gave  them  their  first  view  of 
eternal  life.  Thus  the  deer  hunt  became  a  soul  hunt. 
The  wild  Brules  grunted  their  friendly  "Yes,"  as  they 
left  Ehnamane's  teepee,  their  mouths  filled  with  venison, 
and  their  hearts  with  the  good  seed  of  truth,  from  which 
some  one  will  reap  the  fruit  after  many  days." 

On  the  13th  of  June,  1873,  the  second  regular  annual 
meeting  of  the  Dakota  Conference  commenced  i'.s  sessions 


250  MARY   AND    I. 

at  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson's  mission  at  the  Yankton 
Agency.  The  "  Word  Carrier  "  for  August  says  this  was 
a  very  full  meeting — "  Every  missionary  and  assistant 
missionary,  except  Mrs.  S.  R.  Riggs  and  W.  K.  Morris, 
was  present,  also  every  native  preacher  and  a  full  list  of 
other  delegates."  I  came  down  from  Fort  Sully  with 
T.  L.  Riggs  and  his  wife,  who  had  only  joined  him  a  few 
weeks  before.  Martha  Riggs  Morris  and  her  two  children 
came  over  from  Sisseton — three  hundred  miles — with  the 
Dakota  delegation.  They  had  a  hard  journey.  The 
roads  were  bad  and  the  streams  were  flooded.  There  was 
no  way  of  crossing  the  Big  Sioux  except  by  swimming, 
and  those  who  could  not  swim  were  pulled  over  in  a  poor 
boat  improvised  from  a  wagon  bed.  It  was  not  without 
a  good  deal  of  danger.  Those  from  the  Santee  Agency 
had  only  the  Missouri  River  to  cross,  and  a  day's  journey 
to  make.  The  interest  of  our  meeting  was  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  presence  of  Rev.  S.  J.  Humphrey  D.D., 
District  Secretary  of  the  American  Board,  Chicago;  and 
Rev.  E.  H.  Avery,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in 
Sioux  City. 

Mr.  Williamson's  new  chapel  made  a  very  pleasant 
place  for  the  gatherings.  Pastoral  Support^  Pastoral 
Vist'tation,a,nd  Vernacular  Teaching  were  among  the  live 
topics  discussed.  Their  eager  consideration  and  prompt 
discussion  of  these  questions  were  in  strong  contrast  with 
the  stolid  indifference  and  mulish  reticence  of  the  former 
life  of  these  native  Dakotas,  arid  showed  the  working  of  a 
superhuman  agency.  Our  friend  S.  J.  Humphrey  wrote 
and  published  a  very  life-like  description  of  what  he  saw 
and  heard  on  this  visit,  and  it  does  me  great  pleasure  to 
let  him  bear  testimony  to  the  marvels  wrought  by  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX  251 

"  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Dakota  Mission  was  held 
at  Yankton  Agency,  commencing  June  13.  We  esteem 
it  a  rare  privilege  to  have  been  present  on  that  occasion 
and  to  have  seen  with  our  own  eyes  the  marvelous  trans- 
formations wrought  by  the  gospel  among  this  people. 
Thirty-six  hours  by  rail  took  us  to  Yankton,  the  border 
town  of  civilization.  Twelve  hours  more  in  stage  and 
open  wagon  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri — the 
Big  Muddy,  as  the  Indians  rightly  call  it — carried  us 
sixty  miles  into  the  edge  of  the  vast  open  prairie,  and 
into  the  heart  of  the  Yankton  Reservation.  Here,  scat- 
tered up  and  down  the  river  bottom  for  thirty  miles,  live 
the  Yanktons,  one  of  the  Dakota  bands,  about  2,000  in 
number.  Thirty  miles  below,  on  the  opposite  bank,  in 
Nebraska,  are  the  Santees.  Up  the  river  for  many  hun- 
dreds of  miles  at  different  points  other  Reservations  are 
set  off,  while  several  wilder  bands  still  hunt  the  buffalo 
on  the  wide  plains  that  stretch  westward  to  the  Black 
Hills.  The  Sissetons,  another  family  of  this  tribe,  are 
located  near  Lake  Traverse,  on  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Dakota  Territory.  This  is  the  field  of  the  Dakota  Mis- 
sion. The  chief  bands  laid  hold  of  thus  far  are  the 
Sisseton,  the  Santee  and  the  Yankton.  A  new  point  has 
recently  been  taken  at  Fort  Sully  among  the  Teetons. 

"  It  was  from  these  places,  lying  apart  in  their  extremes 
at  least  300  miles,  that  more  than  a  hundred  Indians 
gathered  to  this  annual  meeting.  On  Thursday  after- 
noon the  hospitable  doors  of  Rev.  J.  P.  Williamson's 
spacious  log  house  opened  just  in  time  to  give  us  shelter 
from  a  fierce  storm  of  wind  and  rain.  The  next  morning 
the  Santees,  fifty  of  them,  from  the  Pilgrim  Church,  some 
on  foot,  some  on  pony-back,  and  a  few  in  wagons,  strag- 
gled in,  and  pitched  their  camp,  in  Indian  fashion,  on  the 


252  MARY   AND    I. 

open  space  near  the  mission  house.  About  noon  the 
Sissetons  appeared,  a  dilapidated  crowd  of  more  than 
forty,  weary  and  footsore  with  their  300  miles  tramp 
through  ten  tedious  days.  Among  them  was  one  white 
person,  a  woman,  with  her  two  children,  the  youngest  an 
infant,  not  a  captive,  but  a  missionary's  wife,  traveling 
thus  among  a  people  whom  the  gospel  had  made  captives 
themselves,  chiefly  through  the  labors  of  an  honored 
father  and  a  mother  of  blessed  memory.  It  intimates 
the  courage  and  endurance  needed  for  such  a  trip  to  know 
that  there  were  almost  no  human  habitations  on  the  way, 
and  that  swollen  rivers  were  repeatedly  crossed  in  the 
wagon-box,  stripped  of  its  wheels  and  made  sea- worthy 
by  canvas  swathed  underneath. 

"  An  hour  afterward,  from  200  miles  in  the  opposite 
direction,  the  Fort  Sully  delegation  appeared.  For 
Father  Riggs,  and  the  younger  son,  famous  as  a  hard  rider, 
this  journey  was  no  great  affair.  But  the  tenderly-reared 
young  wife — how  she  could  endure  the  five  days  of  wagon 
and  tent  life  is  among  the  mysteries. 

"  That  this  was  no  crowd  of  Indian  revelers  (come  to  a 
sun-dance,  as  it  might  have  been  of  yore)  was  soon  man- 
ifest. The  first  morning  after  their  arrival  a  strange, 
chanting  voice,  like  that  of  a  herald,  mingled  with  our 
daybreak  dreams.  Had  we  been  among  the  Mussulmans 
we  should  have  thought  it  the  muezzin's  cry.  Of  course, 
all  was  Indian  to  us,  but  we  learned  afterward  that  it  was 
indeed  a  call  to  prayer,  with  this  English  rendering: 

'  Morning  is  coming!  Morning  is  coming! 

Wake  up !  wake  up !     Come  to  sing !  come  to  pray ! ' 

"  In  a  few  minutes,  for  it  does  not  take  an  Indian  long 
to  dress,  the  low  cadence  of  many  voices  joining  in  one 
of  our  own  familiar  tunes  rose  sweetly  on  the  air  telling 


FORTY    YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  253 

us  that  the  day  of  their  glad  solemnities  had  begun. 
This  was  entirely  their  own  notion,  and  was  repeated 
each  of  the  four  days  we  were  together. 

"  On  this  same  morning  another  sharp  contrast  of  the 
old  and  the  new  appeared.  By  invitation  of  the  elder 
Williamson,  we  took  a  walk  among  the  teepees  of  the 
natives  who  live  on  the  ground.  Passing,  with  due  regard 
for  Dakota  etiquette,  those  which  contained  only  women, 
we  came  to  one  which  we  might  properly  enter.  The 
v  inmates  were  evidently  of  the  heathen  party.  A  man, 
apparently  fifty,  sat  upon  a  skin,  entirely  nude  save  the 
inevitable  blanket,  which  he  occasionally  drew  up  about 
his  waist.  A  lad  of  sixteen,  in  the  same  state,  lounged 
in  an  obscure  corner.  The  mother,  who,  we  learned, 
occasionally  attended  meeting,  wore  a  drabbled  dress, 
doubtless  her  only  garment.  Two  or  three  others  were 
present  in  different  stages  of  undress,  and  all,  lazy,  stolid, 
dirty.  As  we  looked  into  these  impassive  faces  we  could 
understand  the  saying  of  one  of  the  missionaries,  that 
when  you  first  speak  to  an  audience  of  wild  Indians  you 
might  as  well  preach  to  the  back  of  their  heads,  so  far  as 
any  responsive  expression  is  concerned.  And  yet,  now 
and  then,  the  dull  glow  of  a  latent  ferocity  would  light 
up  the  eye,  like  that  of  a  beast  of  prey  looking  for  his 
next  meal.  Alas!  for  the  noble  red  man!  In  spite  of 
what  the  poets  say,  we  found  him  a  filthy,  stupid  savage. 
All  this  we  have  time  to  see  while  Mr.  Williamson  talks 
to  them  in  the  unknown  tongue.  But  now  the  little 
church  bell  calls  us  to  the  mission  chapel.  It  is  already 
filled — the  men  on  one  side,  the  women  on  the  other. 
The  audience  numbers  perhaps  two  hundred. 

"All  classes  and  ages  are  there.      All  are  decently 
dressed.      Were  it  not  for  the  dark  faces,  you   would  not 


254  MARY    AND    I. 

distinguish  them  from  an  ordinary  country  congregation. 
The  hymn  has  already  been  given  out,  and  each,  with 
book  in  hand,  has  found  the  place.  The  melodeon  sets 
the  tune,  and  then,  standing,  they  sing.  It  is  no  weak- 
lunged  performance,  we  can  assure  you.  Not  altogether 
harmonious,  perhaps,  but  vastly  sweeter  than  a  war- 
whoop,  we  fancy;  certainly  hearty  and  sincere,  and,  we 
have  no  doubt,  an  acceptable  offering  of  praise.  A  low- 
voiced  prayer,  by  a  native  pastor,  uttered  with  reverent 
unction,  follows.  Another  singing,  and  then  the  sermon. 
One  of  the  Renvilles  is  the  preacher.  We  do  not  know 
what  it  is  all  about.  But  the  ready  utterance,  the  mel- 
lifluent flow  of  words,  the  unaffected  earnestness  of  the 
speaker,  and  the  fixed  attention  of  the  audience,  mark 
it  as  altogether  a  success.  While  he  speaks  to  the  people, 
we  study  their  faces.  They  are  certainly  a  great  im- 
provement upon  those  we  saw  in  the  teepee.  But  not 
one,  or  two  generations  of  Christian  life  will  work  off  the 
stupid,  inexpressive  look  that  ages  of  heathenism  have 
graven  into  them.  There  is  a  steady  gain,  however.  Just 
as  in  a  dissolving  view  there  comes  slowly  out  on  the 
canvas  glimpses  of  a  fair  landscape,  mingling  strangely 
with  the  dim  outlines  of  the  disappearing  old  ruin,  so 
there  is  struggling  through  these  stony  faces  an  expres- 
sion of  the  new  creation  within,  the  converted  soul  striv- 
ing to  light  up  and  inform  the  hard  features,  and  displace 
the  ruin  of  the  old  savage  life.  But  the  poor  women! 
Their  case  is  even  worse.  They  start  from  a  lower  plane. 
Some  of  these  are  young,  some  are  mothers  with  their 
infants,  many  are  well-treated  wives,  not  a  few  take  part 
with  propriety  in  the  women's  meetings,  and  yet  you  look 
in  vain  among  them  all  for  one  happy  face.  They  wear 
a  beaten  and  abused  look,  as  if  blows  and  cruelty  had 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         255 

been  their  daily  lot,  as  if  they  lived  even  only  by  suffer- 
ance. This  is  the  settled  look  of  their  faces  when  in 
repose.  But  speak  to  them;  let  the  missionary  tell  them 
you  are  their  friend;  and  their  eyes  light  up  with  a  gen- 
tle gladness,  showing  that  a  true,  womanly  soul  only 
slumbers  in  them.  This  came  out  beautifully  at  a  later 
point  in  the  meeting.  A  motion  was  about  to  be  put, 
when  some  one  insisted  that  on  that  question  the  women 
should  express  their  minds.  This  was  cordially  assented 
to,  and  they  were  requested  to  stand  with  the  men  in  a 
rising  vote.  The  girls,  of  course,  giggled;  but  the  women 
modestly  rose  in  their  places,  and  it  was  worth  a  trip  all 
the  way  from  Chicago  to  see  the  look  of  innocent  pride 
into  which  their  sad  faces  were  for  once  surprised. 

"  But  sermon  is  done.  There  is  another  loud-voiced 
hymn,  and  then  the  meeting  of  days  is  declared  duly 
opened.  It  is  to  be  a  composite,  a  session  of  Presbytery, 
for  they  happen  to  have  taken  that  form,  and  a  Confer- 
ence of  churches.  A  leading  candidate  for  moderator  is 
Ehnamane,  a  Santee  pastor.  How  far  the  fact  that  he  is  a 
great  hunter  and  a  famous  paddleman,  affects  the  vote, 
we  cannot  say.  This  may  have  had  more  weight:  his 
father  was  a  great  conjurer  and  war  prophet.  Before  he 
died  he  said  to  his  son: 

" '  The  white  man  is  coming  into  the  country,  and  your 
children  may  learn  to  read.  But  promise  me  that  you  will 
never  leave  the  religion  of  your  ancestors.' 

"  He  promised.  And  he  says  now  that  had  the  Minnesota 
outbreak  not  come,  in  which  his  gods  were  worsted  by 
the  white  man's  God,  he  would  have  kept  true  to  his 
pledge.  As  it  is,  he  now  preaches  the  faith  which  once 
he  destroyed,  and  they  make  him  moderator. 

"  We  will  not  follow  the  meeting  through  the  days. 


256  MARY    AND    I. 

There  are  resolutions,  and  motions  to  amend,  and  all 
that,  just  like  white  folks,  and  plenty  of  speech-making. 
Now  a  telling  hit  sends  a  ripple  of  laughter  through  the 
room;  and  now  the  moistened  eyes  and  trembling  lip  tell 
that  some  deep  vein  of  feeling  has  been  touched.  Grave 
questions  are  under  discussion:  Pastoral  Support,  open- 
ing out  into  general  benevolence;  Pastoral  Visitation,  its 
necessity,  methods,  difficulties,  and  also  as  a  work  per- 
taining to  elders,  deacons,  and  to  the  whole  membership; 
Primary  Education — shall  it  be  in  the  vernacular  or  in 
English?  a  most  spirited  debate,  resulting  in  this:  '•Re- 
solved, That  so  long  as  the  children  speak  the  Dakota  at 
home,  education  should  be  begun  in  the  Dakota.'  Then 
the  '  lapi  Oaye — the  Word  Carrier,'  for  they  have  their 
newspaper,  and  it  has  its  financial  troubles,  comes  up. 
All  rally  to  its  support.  But  the  hundred-dollar  deficit 
for  last  year,  that,  we  suspect,  comes  out  of  the  mission- 
aries' meager  salaries.  All  along  certain  more  strictly 
ecclesiastical  matters  are  mingled  in.  James  Red  Wing 
is  brought  forward  to  be  approbated  as  a  preacher  at  Fort 
Sully.  An  application  is  considered  for  forming  a  new 
church  on  the  Sisseton  Reserve.  The  church  at  White 
Banks  asks  aid  for  a  church  building,  and  a  Yankton 
elder  is  examined  and  received  as  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry.  The  Indians,  in  large  numbers,  share  freely 
in  all  these  deliberations.  Everything  is  decorous  and 
dignified,  sometimes  evidently  intensely  interesting,  we 
the  while  burning  to  know  what  they  are  saying,  and 
getting  the  general  drift  only  through  a  friendly  whisper 
in  the  ear.  While  they  are  discussing,  we  will  make  a 
few  notes:  About  one- third  of  these  before  us  were  im- 
prisoned for  the  massacre  of  1862,  although,  probably, 
none  of  them  took  active  part  in  it.  The  larger  portion 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  W257 

of  them  were  made  freemen  of  the  Lord  in  that  great 
prison  revival  at  Mankato,  as  a  result  of  which  300  joined 
the  church  in  one  day.  They  were  also  of  that  number 
who,  when  being  transferred  by  steamer  to  Davenport, 
'  passed  St.  Paul  in  chains,  indeed,  but  singing  the  fifty- 
first  Psalm,  to  the  tune  of  Old  Hundred.'  Seven  of  these 
men  are  regularly  ordained  ministers,  pastors  of  as  many 
churches;  two  others  are  licentiate  preachers.  Quite  a 
numb.er  are  teachers,  deacons,  elders,  or  delegates  of  the 
nine  churches  belonging  to  the  mission,  and  they  report 
a  goodly  fellowship  of  775  Dakota  members,  79  of  whom 
have  come  into  the  fold  since  the  last  meeting. 

"  Two  or  three  of  these  men  are  of  some  historic  note. 
John  B.  Renville,  who  sits  at  the  scribe's  desk,  was  the 
main  one  in  inaugurating  the  counter  revolution  in  the 
hostilities  of  1862.  Yonder  is  Peter  Big  Fire,  who,  by 
his  address,  turned  the  war  party  from  the  trail  of  the 
fleeing  missionaries.  And  there  is  Grey  Cloud,  for  five 
years  in  the  United  States  army,  a  sergeant  of  scouts; 
and  Chaskada_n,  the  Elder  Brewster  of  the  prison 
church;  and  Lewis  Mazawakinyaniia,  formerly  chaplain 
among  the  Fort  scouts,  now  pastor  of  Mayasan  Church, 
and  Hokshidanminiamani,  once  a  conjurer,  now  no 
longer  raising  spirits  in  the  teepee,  but  humbly  seeking 
to  be  taught  of  the  Divine  spirit — and  all  these — ah,  our 
eyes  fill  with  tears  as  we  think  that  but  for  the  blessed 
gospel  they  would  still  be  worshipers  of  devils. 

"The  meeting  is  adjourned,  and  the  brethren  are  com- 
ing forward  to  greet  us.  We  never  grasped  hands  with 
a  heartier  good  will.  But  somehow  our  sense  of  humor 
will  not  be  altogether  quiet  as,  one  after  another,  we  are 
introduced  to  Elder  Big-Fire,  Rev.  Mr.  All-good,  Deacon 

Boy- that- walks-on-the- water,  Pastor  Little-Iron -Thunder, 
17 


258  MARY    AND    I. 

Elder  Grey-Cloud,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Stone-that-paints-itself- 
red.  But  they  are  grand  men,  and  their  names  a  e  quite 
as  euphonious  as  some  English  ones  we  could  pick  out. 

"  While  supper  is  preparing,  we  will  look  a  moment  at 
a  phase  of  tent  life.  A  sudden  gust  of  wind  has  blown 
over  two  of  the  large  teepees.  And  now  they  are  to  be 
set  up  again.  One  is  occupied  by  the  men,  the  other  by 
the  women.  Under  the  old  regime  the  women  do  all  this 
kind  of  work.  But  now  the  men  are  willing  to  try.  their 
hand  at  it,  at  least  upon  their  own  tent.  It  is  new  work, 
however,  and  while  they  are  making  futile  attempts  at 
tying  together  the  ends  of  the  first  three  poles,  the  moth- 
ers and  wives  have  theirs  already  up  and  nearly  covered. 
At  length  a  broad-chested  woman  steps  over  among  them, 
strips  off  their  ill-tied  strings,  repacks  the  ends  of  the 
poles,  and  with  two  or  three  deft  turns  binds  them  fast, 
and  all  with  a  kind  of  nervous  contempt  as  if  she  were 
saying — she  probably  is:  "  O  you  stupid  fellows!  "  The 
after  work  does  not  seem  to  be  much  more  successful, 
and  they  stand  around  in  a  helpless  sort  of  way,  while 
the  young  women  are  evidently  bantering  them  with  good- 
natured  jests,  mflch  as  a  bevy  of  white  girls  would  do  in 
seeing  a  man  vainly  trying  to  stitch  on  a  missing  button, 
each  new  bungling  mistake  drawing  the  fire  of  the  fair 
enemy  in  a  fresh  explosion  of  laughter.  How  the  thing 
comes  out  we  do  not  stay  to  see,  but  we  suspect  that  the 
practiced  hands  of  the  good  women  finally  come  to  the 
rescue. 

"  Sunday  is  the  chief  day  of  interest,  and  yet  there  is 
less  to  report  about  that.  In  the  morning  at  nine  o'clock 
Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs  conducts  a  model  Bible  class,  with  re- 
marks on  the  art  of  questioning.  At  the  usual  hour  of 
service  the  church  is  crowded,  and  Rev.  Solomon  Toon- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         259 

kanshaichiye  preaches,  we  doubt  not,  a  most  excellent  ser- 
mon. Immediately  following  is  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  with  the  fathers  of  the  mission,  Revs.  Dr. 
Riggs  and  Williamson  officiating,  a  tender  and  solemn 
scene,  impressive  even  to  us  who  understand  no  single 
word  of  the  service,  for  grave  Indian  deacons  reverently 
pass  the  elements;  and  many  receive  them  which  but  for 
a  knowledge  of  this  dear  sacrifice  might  have  reckoned 
it  their  chief  glory  that  their  hands  were  stained  with 
human  blood. 

"  Just  as  we  close,  in  strange  contrast  with  the  spirit  of 
the  -hour,  two  young  Indian  braves  go  by  the  windows. 
They  are  tricked  out  with  all  manner  of  savage  frippery. 
Ribbons  stream  in  the  wind,  strings  of  discordant  sleigh- 
bells  grace  their  horses'  necks  and  herald  their  approach. 
Each  carries  a  drawn  sword  which  flashes  in  the  sunlight, 
and  a  plentiful  use  of  red  ocher  and  eagles'  feathers, 
completes  the  picture.  As  they  ride  by  011  their  scrawny 
little  ponies  the  effect  is  indescribably  absurd.  But  they 
think  it  very  fine,  and,  like  their  cousins,  the  white  fops, 
have  simply  come  to  show  themselves. 

"  In  the  afternoon,  is  an  English  service,  and  then  one 
wholly  conducted  by  the  natives  themselves.  No  even- 
ing meetings  are  held,  as  these  people  that  rise  with  the 
birds  are  not  far  behind  them  in  going  to  their  rest.  On 
Monday  the  business  is  finished,  and  the  farewells  are 
said.  And  on  Tuesday  morning  the  various  delegations 
start  for  their  distant  homes. 

"  We  have  no  space  to  speak  of  the  meeting  of  the 
mission  proper.  It  was  held  at  Mr.  Williamson's  house 
during  the  evenings.  Nearly  all  its  members  were  pres- 
ent— a  delightful  re-union  it  was  to  them  and  us — and 
many  questions  of  serious  interest  were  amply  discussed. 


260  MARY    AND    I. 

We  dare  not  trust  our  pen  to  write  about  these  noble 
men  and  women  as  we  would.  The  results  of  their  labors 
abundantly  testify  for  them,  and  their  record  is  on  high. 
May  they  receive  an  hundred  fold  for  their  work  of  faith, 
and  labor  of  love,  and  patience  of  hope  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ," 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          261 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

1873-1874— The  American  Board  at  Minneapolis.— The  nidus 
of  the  Dakota  Mission. — Large  Indian  Delegation. — Ehna- 
mane  and  Mazakooteinane. — "  Then  and  Now." — The  Wo- 
man's Meeting. — Nina  Foster  Riggs  and  Lizzie  Bishop. — Miss 
Bishop's  Work  and  Early  Death. — Manual  Labor  Boarding 
School  at  Sisseton. — Building  Dedicated.— M.  N.  Adams, 
Agent. — School  Opened. — Mrs.  Armor  and  Mrs.  Morris. — 
"My  Darling  in  God's  Garden."— Visit  to  Fort  Berthold.— 
Mandans,  Rees  and  Hidatsa.— Dr.  W.  Matthews'  Hidatsa 
Grammar. — Beliefs.— Missionary  Interest  in  Berthold. — Down 
the  Missouri. — Annual  Meeting  at  San  tee. — Normal  School. 
— Dakotas  Build  a  Church  at  Ascension. — Journey  to  the 
Ojibwas  with  E.  P.  Wheeler.— Leech  Lake  and  Red  Lake.— 
On  the  Gitche  Gurnnie. — "  The  Stoneys." — Visit  to  Odanah. 
— Hope  for  Ojibwas. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  was  to  hold  its  annual  meeting,  in  the  autumn 
of  1873,  in  the  city  of  Minneapolis.  That  was  almost 
the  identical  spot  where  our  mission  had  been  commenced, 
nearly  forty  years  before.  And  it  was  comparatively  near 
to  the  center  of  our  present  work.  These  were  reasons 
why  we  should  make  a  special  effort  to  bring  the  Dakota 
mission,  on  this  occasion,  prominently  before  this  great 
Christian  gathering.  Our  churches  on  the  Sisseton  Res- 
ervation were  only  a  little  more  than  200  miles  away. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  Saint  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad, 
it  would  only  be  a  three  days  journey.  Accordingly  I 


262  MARY    AND    I. 

applied  to  my  friend  Gen.  Geo.  L.  Becker,  of  St.  Paul, 
who  was  then  President  of  the  Road,  to  send  me  half- 
fares  for  a  dozen  Dakota  men.  He  generously  responded, 
and  sent  me  up  a  free  pass  down  for  that  number. 

This  made  it  possible  for  all  the  churches  on  the  Sis- 
seton  Reservation  to  be  represented  by  pastors  and  elders. 
A.  L.  Riggs  brought  over  a  good  delegation  from  the 
Santee,  so  that  we  had  there  seventeen  of  our  most  prom- 
inent men.  The  present  missionaries  and  assistant  mis- 
sionaries of  the  Board,  except  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris,  were 
all  there.  Our  brother  John  P.  Williamson  was  engaged 
in  church  building,  and  could  not  attend.  But  there 
were  the  Pond  brothers  and  Dr.  T.  S.  Williamson  accept- 
ing with  glad  hearts  the  results  of  their  labors  com- 
menced thirty-nine  years  before.  And  the  presence  of 
so  large  an  Indian  delegation  added  much  to  the  popular 
interest  of  the  occasion.  So  that  the  subject  of  Indian 
missions  in  general,  and  of  the  Dakota  mission  in  partic- 
ular, engaged  the  attention  of  this  great  meeting,  for 
about  one-third  of  their  time.  Artemas  Ehnamane,  the 
pastor  of  Pilgrim  Church,  at  Santee,  and  Paul  Mazakoote- 
mane,  the  hero  of  the  outbreak  of  1862,  both  made  ad- 
dresses before  the  Board,  which  were  interpreted  by 
A.  L.  Riggs. 

In  the  Dakota  *'  Word  Carrier,"  we  were  at  this  time 
publishing  a  series  of  "  Sketches  of  the  Dakota  Mission," 
which  we  gathered  into  a  pamphlet  and  distributed  to 
the  thousands  of  Christian  friends  gathered  there.  Num- 
ber twelve  of  these  sketches  is  mainly  a  contrast  between 
the  commencement  and  the  present  state  of  our  work 
among  the  Dakotas,  from  which  I  make  the  following  ex- 
tract: 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  263 

"THEN  AND  NOW. 

"  In  the  first  days  of  July,  1839,  a  severe  battle  was 
fought  between  the  Dakotas  and  Ojibwas.  The  Ojibwas 
had  visited  Fort  Snelling  during  the  last  days  of  June, 
expecting  to  receive  some  payment  for  land  sold.  In  this 
they  were  disappointed.  The  evening  before  they  started 
for  their  homes — a  part  going  up  the  Mississippi,  and  a 
part  by  the  St.  Croix — two  young  men  were  observed  to 
go  to  the  soldiers'  burying  ground,  near  the  Fort,  and  cry. 
Their  father  had  been  killed  some  years  before  by  the 
Dakotas,  and  was  buried  there.  The  next  morning  they 
started  for  their  homes;  but  these  two  young  men,  their 
people  not  knowing  it,  went  out  and  hid  themselves  that 
night  close  by  a  path  which  wound  around  the  shores  of 
Lake  Harriet.  In  the  early  morning  following,  a  Dakota 
hunter  walked  along  that  path,  followed  by  a  boy.  The 
man  was  shot  down,  and  the  boy  escaped  to  tell  the  story. 
"  During  their  stay  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Snelling, 
the  Ojibwas  had  smoked  and  eaten  with  the  Dakotas. 
That  scalped  man  now  lying  by  Lake  Harriet  was  an 
evidence  of  violated  faith.  The  Dakotas  were  eager  to 
take  advantage  of  the  affront.  The  cry  was  for  ven- 
geance; and  before  the  sun  had  set,  two  parties  were  on 
the  war-path. 

"  The  young  man  who  had  been  killed  was  the  son-in- 
law  of  Cloud-man,  the  chief  of  the  Lake  Calhoun  village. 
Scarlet  Bird  was  the  brother-in-law  of  the  chief.  So 
Scarlet  Bird  was  the  leader  of  the  war  party  which  came 
to  where  the  city  of  Minneapolis  is  now  built,  and  about 
the  setting  of  the  sun,  crossed  over  to  the  east  side;  and 
there,  seating  the  warriors  in  a  row  on  the  sand,  he  dis- 
tributed the  beads  and  ribbons  and  other  trinkets  of  the 
man  who  had  been  killed,  and  with  them  '-prayed'*  the 


264:  MARY    AND    I. 

whole  party  into  committing  the  deeds  of  the  next 
morning.  The  morning's  sun,  as  it  arose,  saw  these  same 
men  smiting  down  the  Ojibwas,  just  after  they  had  left 
camp,  in  the  region  of  Rum  River.  Scarlet  Bird  was 
among  the  slain  on  the  Dakota  side;  and  a  son  of  his, 
whom  he  had  goaded  into  the  battle  by  calling  him  a 
woman,  was  left  on  the  field.  Many  Ojibwa  scalps 
were  taken,  and  all  through  that  autumn  and  into  the 
following  winter,  the  scalp  dance  was  danced  nightly  at 
every  Dakota  village  on  the  Mississippi  and  Minnesota 
rivers,  as  far  up  as  Lac-qui-parle. 

"That  was  the  condition  of  things  THEN.  Between 
THEN  and  NOW  there  is  a  contrast.  Then  only  a  small 
government  saw-mill  stood  where  now  stand  mammoth 
mills,  running  hundreds  of  saws.  Then  only  a  little 
soldier's  dwelling  stood  where  now  are  the  palaces  of 
merchant  princes.  Then  only  the  war-whoop  of  the 
savage  was  heard  where  now,  in  this  year  of  grace,  1873, 
a  little  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  after,  is  heard  the 
voice  of  praise  and  prayer  in  numerous  Christian  sanctu- 
aries and  a  thousand  Christian  households.  Then  it  was 
the  gathering  place  of  the  nude  and  painted  war  party; 
now  it  is  the  gathering  place  of  the  friends  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  Then 
the  dusky  forms  of  the  Dakotas  flitted  by  in  the  gloaming, 
bent  on  deeds  of  blood;  now  the  same  race  is  here  largely- 
represented  by  pastors  of  native  churches  and  teachers  of 
the  white  man's  civilization  and  the  religion  of  Christ. 
And  the  marvelous  change  that  has  passed  over  this 
country,  converting  it  from  the  wild  abode  of  savages  into 
the  beautiful  land  of  Christian  habitations,  is  only  sur- 
passed by  the  still  more  marvelous  change  that  has  been 
wrought  upon  those  savages  themselves.  The  greater 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         265 

part  of  the  descendants  of  the  Indians  who  once  lived 
here  are  now  in  Christian  families,  and  have  been  gath" 
ered  into  Christian  churches,  having  their  native  pastors. 
Some,  too,  have  gone  beyond  to  the  still  wild  portions  of 
their  own  people,  and  are  commencing  there  such  a  work 
as  we  commenced,  nearly  forty  years  ago,  among  their 
fathers  here. 

"  But  the  work  is  now  commenced  among  the  Teetons  of 
the  Missouri,  under  circumstances  vastly  different  from 
those  which  surrounded  us  in  its  beginning  here.  Then, 
with  an  unwritten  language,  imperfectly  understood  and 
spoken  stammeringly  by  foreigners,  the  gospel  was  pro- 
claimed to  unwilling  listeners.  Now,  with  the  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  language  learned  in  the  wigwam,  a 
comparatively  large  company  of  native  men  and  women 
are  engaged  in  publishing  it.  Many  ears  are  still  unwil- 
ling to  listen,  and  the  hearts  of  the  wild  Indians  are  only 
a  very  little  opened  to  the  good  news;  but  the  contrast 
between  the  past  and  present  is  very  great." 

While  this  meeting  of  the  American  Board  was  in 
progress,  the  ladies  of  the  Woman's  Boards  held  a  meet- 
ing, which  was  reported  as  full  of  interest.  So  many 
women  publishers  of  the  Word  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
were  present,  that  the  enthusiasm  and  Christ-spirit  rose 
very  high.  Nina  Foster  Riggs,  who  had  jusb  arrived  from 
Fort  Sully,  the  center  of  Dakota  heathendom,  announced 
her  wish  for  a  female  companion  in  labor  there.  Several 
young  women  present  said,  "  I  will  go."  From  these, 
Miss  Lizzie  Bishop,  of  Northfield,  Minn.,  was  afterward 
selected.  Her  health  was  not  vigorous,  but  she  and  her 
friends  thought  it  might  become  more  so  in  the  Missouri 
River  climate.  She  at  once  proceeded  with  T.  L.  Riggs 
and  wife  to  Hope  Station.  There  I  met  her,  for  the  first 


266  MARY    AND    I. 

time,  in  the  first  of  June  following.  She  impressed  me 
as  a  singularly  pure  minded  and  devoted  young  woman. 
Two  Teeton  boys  in  the  family  belonged  to  her  especial 
charge.  She  said  she  found  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  Dakota 
too  difficult  of  comprehension  for  their  use,  and  desired 
me  to  make  something  more  simple.  I  sat  down  and 
wrote  a  child's  prayer,  of  which  this  is  a  translation: 

My  Father,  God, 

Have  mercy  on  me; 
Now  1  will  sleep; 

Watch  over  me: 
If  I  die  before  the  morning, 

Take  me  to  Thyself. 
For  thy  Son  Jesus'  sake,  these  I  ask  of  Thee. 

Miss  Bishop's  missionary  work  for  the  Teeton  Sioux 
was  soon  over.  But  I  will  let  Nina  Foster  Riggs  tell  the 
story: 

"After  the  meeting  of  the  American  Board  in  Minneap- 
olis, in  October,  1873,  Miss  Elizabeth  Bishop,  of  North- 
field,  Minn.,  entered  the  Dakota  work. 

"  Two  years  later,  at  the  next  western  meeting  of  the 
Society,  and  during  the  session  of  the  Woman's  Board  of 
Missions,  her  death  was  announced.  Of  the  intervening 
twelve  months  twice  told,  it  falls  to  my  lot  to  speak,  and 
I  attempt  the  task  with  mingled  feelings,  for  I  know  it  is 
impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  beauty  of  Lizzie's  char- 
acter. 

"  Young,  delicate,  already  suffering  with  a  disease 
which  made  her  to  be  over-fastidious  in  some  things,  sen- 
sitive to  the  discomforts  of  frontier  life,  and  inexperienced 
in  its  ways  of  living,  she  came  into  the  mission  work. 

"  These  hindrances  were  met  and  more  than  overbal- 
anced by  her  singleness  of  purpose,  her  even  temper, 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          267 

her  devotion  to  her  chosen  labor,  and  her  unwavering 
trust  in  Jesus. 

"  The  first  winter  of  her  stay  at  Hope  Station,  on  the 
bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  opposite  Fort  Sully  was  a 
winter  of  trial  and  of  danger.  Indians  had  threatened  to 
burn  the  mission  house.  Hostile  ones  crowded  about  the 
place,  the  camps  were  noisy  with  singing  and  dancing  in 
preparation  for  war  parties,  and  once  a  shot  was  fired 
into  the  house. 

"None  of  these  things  disturbed  Lizzie.  4I  do  not  choose 
to  be  killed  by  the  Indians,'  she  said,  ;  but  if  the  Lord  wills 
it  so,  it  is  all  right.'  And  she  went  on  as  usual  with  her 
housework  and  her  sewing-school,  and  the  care  of  the  two 
Indian  boys  who  were  taken  into  the  family  in  the  spring. 
While  she  taught  the  sewing-class,  several  little  girls, 
some  six  or  eight,  made  dresses  of  linsey-woolsey  for 
themselves,  and  then,  under  Miss  Bishop's  supervision, 
combed  their  hair,  bathed,  and  put  on  clean  clothes.  She 
also  instructed  several  women  in  some  branches  of  house- 
work, and  was  always  looking  for  the  opportunity  of 
doing  good. 

"  Very  early  in  the  winter  she  had  a  slight  hemorrhage 
from  the  lungs,  which  was  followed  by  others  more  severe 
at  intervals  through  the  summer.  But  she  still  kept  up. 

"In  the  fall,  after  the  removal  to  another  mission  station, 
her  health  gave  way,  and  she  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  Fort 
to  rest  and  recuperate.  After  her  return  she  was  able  to 
resume  only  a  part  of  her  former  work  ;  but  she  carried 
on,  with  great  enthusiasm,  the  morning  school  for  chil- 
ren,  and  aided  somewhat  in  the  sewing-school. 

"  Although,  as  the  spring  advanced,  her  health  failed 
more  and  more,  yet  her  courage  would  not  give  way,  and 
she  never  but  once  expressed  the  opinion  that  she  should 


268  MARY    AND    I. 

not  recover.  Her  plan  had  been  to  spend  this  second 
summer  in  her  own  home,  though  sometimes  she  was 
almost  ready  to  stay  on  and  work  for  '  my  boys,'  as  she 
called  them. 

"  Finally  she  concluded  to  go  to  Minnesota  for  the  sum- 
mer, but  made  every  arrangement  to  return  to  the  mission 
in  the  fall.  After  some  hesitation  because  of  her  delicate 
health,  she  decided  to  make  the  journey  with  our  mission 
party,  overland,  down  the  country.  So  she  took  the  trip, 
enjoyed  every  day,  and  declared  she  felt  better  and  slept 
better  every  night. 

"  The  party  camped  out  over  the  Sabbath,  and  on  Mon- 
day evening,  the  seventh  day  after  leaving  Fort  Sully, 
arrived  at  the  Yankton  Agency.  Here  at  the  mission 
home  of  our  friend,  J.  P.  Williamson,  the  welcome  was  so 
warm,  and  the  companionship  so  pleasant,  that  Miss  Bishop 
desired  to  spend  a  few  days  longer  than  she  had  intended. 
She  wanted  to  visit  the  schools,  and  learn,  both  here  and  at 
Santee  Agency,  something  to  help  her  when  she  should  go 
back  to  teach  the  Indian  children  on  the  Upper  Missouri. 
So  she  stayed  behind,  full  of  hope  and  zeal.  But  her 
friends  parted  from  her  with  foreboding  in  their  hearts.  In 
a  few  days  she  was  again  attacked  with  her  old  trouble  ; 
she  rallied  so  as  to  get  to  her  home  and  to  be  again  with 
her  mother  and  sister.  But  she  sank  rapidly,  and  after 
some  weeks  of  severe  suffering  she  entered  into  rest. 

"  Writing  of  her,  her  sister  said  :  '  Her  favorite  motto 
was,  "  Simply  to  thy  cross  I  cling."  She  trusted  in  Christ 
because  he  has  promised  to  save  all  who  come  to  him. 
She  enjoyed  hearing  us  sing,  to  the  last,  such  hymns  as, 
"  Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul;  "  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee;  " 
"My  Faith  Looks  Up  to  Thee;"  "  Father,  Whatever  of 
Earthly  Bliss;"  "  How  Firm  a  Foundation,"  and  others.' 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  269 

44  Resting  on  him  who  is  able  to  save,  she  passed  away. 

44  The  work  she  loved  and  so  conscientiously  carried  on, 
has  fallen  to  other  hands,  but  is  not  finished  nor  lost  ;  and 
in  the  homes  she  helped  to  make  happy  she  is  missed 
yet  her  memory  is  an  abiding  presence,  cheering  and 
encouraging. 

44  4  And  a  book  of  remembrance  was  written  before  him 
for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  His 
name.  And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels.'  " 

The  commencement  of  the  Manual  Labor  Boarding 
School,  on  the  Sisseton  Reserve,  was  an  event  which  in- 
dicated progress.  Agent  M.  N.  Adams  had  received 
authority  from  the  Department  to  erect  a  suitable  build- 
ing. On  the  4th  of  September,  1873,  the  foundation 
walls  were  so  far  completed  that  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
with  appropriate  ceremonies.  There  was  quite  a  gather- 
ing of  the  natives  and  white  people  on  the  Reservation. 
After  prayer  in  Dakota  by  pastor  Solomon,  Mr.  Adams 
made  a  speech  which  was  interpreted,  setting  forth  the 
advantages  that  would  accrue  to  this  people  from  such  a 
school  as  this  building  contemplated.  He  then  announced 
that  he  had  in  his  hands  copies  of  the  Bible  in  Dakota 
and  English,  and  a  Dakota  hymn-book,  together  with 
eight  numbers  of  the  "  lapi  Oaye,"  a  copy  of  the  "  St. 
Paul  Press  "  and  a  Yankton  paper,  and  also  sundry  docu- 
ments, all  of  which  he  deposited  in  the  place  prepared 
for  them.  I  added  a  few  remarks,  and  then  the  corner- 
stone was  laid  and  pronounced  level.  Speeches  followed 
from  Solomon,  John  B.,  and  Daniel  Renville,  pastors  ; 
and  from  Robert  Hopkins,  Two  Stars,  and  Gabriel  Ren- 
ville. They  accepted  this  as  the  guarantee  of  progress 
in  the  new  era  on  which  they  had  entered. 


270  MARY    AND    I. 

That  autumn  the  Boarding  School  was  commenced. 
As  only  a  part  of  the  building  could  be  made  habitable 
for  the  winter,  the  girls  alone  were  placed  there,  under 
the  care  and  teaching  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armor.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Morris  took  the  boys  and  cared  for  them,  in  very 
close  quarters,  at  the  mission,  only  a  little  way  off.  In 
the  summer  of  1874  there  appeared  in  the  "Word  Car- 
rier "  articles  on  "  Our  Girls,"  and  "  Our  Boys,"  written 
by  Mrs.  Armor  and  Mrs.  Morris,  respectively.  In  each 
department  they  had  about  sixteen.  Mrs.  Armor  classed 
her  scholars  as  large  girls,  little  girls,  and  very  little 
girls.  That  first  year  was  a  good  beginning  of  the  school. 

Mrs.  Morris  was  willing  to  undertake  the  hard  work 
these  sixteen  boys  imposed  upon  her,  because  she  had  just 
met  with  a  great  sorrow.  She  had  gone  on  east  with 
two  children,  and  came  back  with  only  one.  "  As  I  sit 
and  mend,"  she  writes,  "  the  alarming  holes  which  the 
boys  make  in  their  clothes,  an  unbidden  tear  sometimes 
falls  when  I  think  of  our  blue-eyed,  sunny-haired  boy, 
whose  last  resting  place  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Susque- 
hanna.  And  I  think  how  much  rather  I  would  have 
worked  for  him  than  for  these  boys.  But  I  say  to  my- 
self, '•My  darling  is  safe  and  out  of  reach  of  harm  • '  and 
these  boys  need  the  doing  for  that  my  darling  one  will 
never  need  more.  For 

'Mine,  in  God's  garden,  runs  to  and  fro, 
And  that  is  best.' 

And  I  know  that  somehow,  the  Lord  knows  what  is  best; 
and  He  does  as  He  will  with  His  own." 

In  the  early  spring  of  1874,  I  was  requested  jointly  by 
the  American  Board  and  the  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation, to  visit  and  report"  upon  various  Indian  agencies, 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          271 

where  their  appointees,  or  nominees  rather,  were  agents. 
Accordingly  I  started  in  the  month  of  May,  by  St.  Paul,  on 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  to  Bismarck,  and  thence  by 
steamboat  up  the  Missouri  to  Foit  Berthold.  At  this  time 
Major  L.  B.  Sperry,  who  had  been  a  Professor  in  Ripon 
College,  was  the  nominee  of  the  American  Missionary 
Association.  It  was  not  my  good  ^fortune  to  find  Agent 
Sperry  at  home,  but  Mrs.  Sperry,  in  a  very  lady-like  way, 
gave  me  the  best  accommodations  during  the  week  I  re- 
mained. 

Here  were  gathered  the  remnant  of  the  Mandans,  only 
a  few  hundred  persons,  and  the  Rees,  or  Arricarees,  a  part 
of  the  Pawnee  tribe,  and  the  Gros  Ventres,  or  Minnetaree, 
propei  ly  the  Hidatsa.  Altogether  they  numbered  about 
two  thousand  souls.  We  had  before  this  entertained  the 
desire  that  we  might  be  able  to  establish  a  mission  among 
these  people,  and  this  thought  or  hope  gave  interest  to 
my  visit.  The  Mandan  and  the  Hidatsa  languages  were 
both  pretty  closely  connected  with  the  Dakota;  but  what 
seemed  to  bring  these  nearer  to  us  was  the  fact  that  many 
of  all  these  people  could  understand  and  talk  the  Dakota, 
that  forming  a  kind  of  common  language  for  them. 

Howard  Mandan,  or  "  The-ma,n-v?ith-a,-scared-face" 
as  his  Indian  name  is  interpreted,  was  the  son  of  Red  Cow, 
the  principal  chief  of  the  Mandans,  and  had  been  taken 
down  by  Gen.  C.  H.  Howard,  a  year  before,  and  placed 
in  A.  L.  Riggs'  school  at  Santee.  Howard  had  returned 
home  before  my  visit,  and  also  Henry  Eaton,  a  Hidatsa 
young  man,  who  had  been  East  a  good  many  years  and 
talked  English  well. 

George  Catlin  had,  many  years  ago,  interested  us  in 
the  Mandans,  by  his  effort  to  prove,  from  their  red  hair 
in  some  cases — perhaps  only  redded  hair — and,  in  some 


272  MARY    AND    I. 

instances,  blue  eyes, and  the  resemblances  which  he  claims 
to  have  found  in  their  languages — that  they  were  the  de- 
scendants of  a  Welsh  colony  that  had  dropped  out  of 
history  a  thousand  years  ago.  And  Dr.  Washington 
Matthews,  of  the  United  States  Army,  had  created  in  us 
a  desire  to  do  something  for  the  spiritual  enlightenment 
of  the  Hidatsa,  by  his  admirable  grammar  and  dictionary 
of  their  language.  In  his  introduction  to  this  book  he 
gives  us  much  valuable  information  about  the  people. 

HIDATSA,  he  tells  us,  is  the  name  by  which  they  call 
themselves.  They  are  better  known  to  us  by  the  names 
MINNETAREE  and  GROS  VENTRE.  This  last  is  a  name 
given  them  by  the  Canadian  French,  and  without  any 
special  reason.  It  is  a  fact  that  Indians  can  eat  large 
quantities  of  food,  but  it  is  very  rarely  indeed  that  you 
will  find  one  whose  appearance  would  justify  the  epithet 
gros  ventre.  The  other  term,  Minnetaree,  is  the  name 
given  them  by  the  Mandans,  and  means,  to  cross  the  water  t 
The  story  is,  that  when  the  Hidatsa  people  came  to  the 
Missouri  River  from  the  northeast,  the  Mandan  village 
was  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  They  called  over,  and 
the  Mandans  answered  back  in  their  own  language  "  Who 
are  you?"  The  Hidatsa  not  understanding  it,  supposed 
they  had  asked  "  What  do  you  want?"  And  so  replied 
Minnetaree,  to  cross  over  the  water" 

Whence  came  the  Hidatsa?  Their  legend  says  they 
originally  lived  under  a  great  body  of  water  which  lies 
far  to  the  northeast  of  where  they  now  live.  From  this 
under-water  residence  some  persons  found  their  way  out, 
and  discovering  a  country  much  better  than  the  one  in 
which  they  lived,  returned  and  gave  to  their  people  such 
glowing  accounts  of  their  discoveries  that  the  whole  nation 
determined  to  come  out.  But  owing  to  the  breaking  of 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  273 

a  tree  on  which  they  were  climbing  out  of  the  lake,  a 
great  part  of  the  tribe  had  to  remain  behind  in  the  water, 
and  they  are  there  yet. 

This  is  very  much  like  the  myth  of  another  tribe,  who 
lived  under  the  ground  by  a  lake.  A  large  grape-vine 
sent  its  tap  root  through  the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  by 
that  they  commenced  to  climb  out.  But  a  very  fat  woman 
taking  hold  of  the  vine,  it  broke,  and  the  remainder 
were  doomed  to  stay  where  they  were.  Do  such  legends 
contain  any  reference  to  the  great  Deluge? 

After  the  Hidatsa  came  up  they  commenced  a  series  of 
wanderings  over  the  prairies.  During  their  migrations 
they  were  often  ready  to  die  of  hunger,  but  were  always 
rescued  by  the  interference  of  their  deity.  It  was  not 
manna  rained  down  around  their  camp,  but  the  stones  of 
the  prairie  were  miraculously  changed  into  buffalo,  which 
they  killed  and  ate.  After  some  time  they  sent  couriers 
to  the  south,  who  came  back  with  the  news  that  they  had 
found  a  great  river  and  a  fertile  valley,  wherein  dwelt  a 
people  who  lived  in  houses  and  tilled  the  ground.  They 
brought  back  corn  and  other  products  of  the  country.  To 
this  beautiful  and  good  land  the  tribe  now  directed  their 
march,  and,  guided  by  their  messengers,  they  reached  the 
Mandan  villages  on  the  Missouri  River.  With  them 
they  camped  and  learned  their  peaceful  arts. 

Dr.  Matthews  says  they  have  a  tradition  that,  during 
these  years  of  wandering,  the  Genius  of  the  Sun  took  up 
one  of  the  Hidatsa  maidens,  and  their  offspring  came  back, 
and,  under  the  name  of  GRAND-CHILD,  was  the  great 
prophet  and  teacher  of  his  mother's  people.  Can  that 
have  any  reference  to  the  "  Son  of  Man?" 

These  Indians,  the  Mandans,  the  Hidatsa  and  the  Rees, 
live  in  one  village  at  Berthold,  in  all  numbering  some- 


274  MARY    AND    I. 

thing  over  two  thousand;  and  they  have  lived  together, 
as  we  know,  more  than  a  hundred  years,  and  yet  the 
languages  are  kept  perfectly  distinct  and  separate.  Many 
of  them  learn  each  other's  language;  and  many  of  them 
talk  Dakota  also.  "  Many  years  ago  they  were  considered 
ripe  for  the  experiments  of  civilization ;  they  stand  to-day 
just  as  fit  subjects  as  ever  for  the  experiment,  which  never 
has  been,  and  possibly  never  will  be,  tried."  This  is  Dr. 
Matthew's  statement.  Let  us  hope  that  the  latter  part 
may  not  be  prophetic. 

"  They  worship  a  deity,"  says  Dr.  Matthews,  "  whom 
they  call 'The  First  Made'  or  'The  First  Existence.'" 
Sometimes  they  speak  of  him  as  "  The  Old  Man  Im- 
mortal." They  believe  in  shades  or  ghosts,  which  belong 
not  only  to  men,  but  to  animals  and  trees  and  every- 
thing. 

"In  the  'next  world'  human  shades  hunt  and  live  on 
the  shades  of  the  buffalo,  and  other  animals  who  have 
lived  here.  Whether  the  shade  of  the  buifalo  then  ceases 
to  exist  or  not,  I  could  find  none  prepared  to  t-3ll  me;  but 
th  w  seem  to  have  a  dim  faith  in  shades  of  shades,  and  in 
shadowlands  of  shade-lands;  belief  in  a  shadowy  immor- 
tality being  the  basis  of  their  creed." 

By  all  these  means  our  interest  in  Fort  Berthold  and 
its  people  grew,  and  we'became  impatient  of  delay.  But 
step  by  step  we  were  led,  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  until 
at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Board  in  Chicago,  in  the 
autumn  of  1875,  after  an  animated  discussion  on  Indian 
Missions,  and  the  debt  of  the  Board  was  lifted  by  a  special 
effort,  Secretary  S.  B.  Treat  arose  and  said:  "  We  are 
ready  to  send  a  man  to  Fort  Berthold."  The  man  and 
the  woman,  Charles  L.  Hall  and  Emma  Calhoun,  were 
ready,  and  the  next  spring  they  were  commissioned  to 


FORTY    YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX. 

make  their  home  among  the  Mandans,  Arickarees  and 
Hidatsa. 

On  leaving  Berthold  in  May,  1874,  I  proceeded  down 
the  Missouri  to  Bismarck,  where  I  was  subjected  to  con- 
siderable delay;  and  then  stopping  a  few  days  with  Thomas 
at  Hope  Station,  and  making  a  short  call  at  the  Yankton 
Agency,  I  went  to  the  Santee,  to  attend  our  Annual  Meet- 
ing of  the  Dakota  Conference,  which  commenced  its 
sessions  with  the  Pilgrim  Church  on  the  18tk  of  June. 

A.  L.  Riggs  had  put  up  in  large  characters,  the  motto 
of  the  meeting — 1834-1874.  Thus  we  were  reminded 
that  FORTY  years  had  passed  since  the  brothers  Pond 
had  made  their  log  cabin  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Calhoun. 
These  gray-headed  men  were  expected  to  have  been 
present  on  this  occasion  but  were  not.  T.  L.  Riggs  and 
wife  could  not  come  down.  Otherwise  the  attendance 
of  whites  and  Indians  was  good.  The  presence  of  Rev. 
Joseph  Ward,  of  Yankton,  and  of  Mrs.  Wood,  the  mother 
of  Mrs.  Ward,  and  also  of  Rev.  De  Witt  Clark,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, greatly  added  to  the  interest.  The  question 
discussed  by  the  native  brethren  with  the  most  eagerness 
was,  "  Shall  the  eldership  receive  any  money  compensa- 
tion?" This  had  come  up  to  be  a  question  solely  because 
such  native  church  helpers  were  receiving  compensation 
among  the  Episcopalians.  But  our  folks  decided  against 
it  by  an  overwhelming  vote. 

So  full  an  account  has  been  given  of  the  like  meeting 
held  a  year  previous,  that  this,  which  was  in  most  respects 
equally  interesting,  may  be  passed  over.  Of  the  school 
here  during  the  winter  past,  the  "  Word  Carrier  "  had 
contained  this  notice:  "The  Normal  School  of  the  Da- 
kota mission,  at  Santee  Agency,  has  had  a  prosperous 
winter  session,  notwithstanding  the  dark  days  last  fall, 


276  MARY    AND    I. 

when  its  doors  were  closed,  and  many  of  its  former  pupils 
removed  beyond  the  reach  of  earthly  training  by  the 
small-pox.1'  The  whole  number  of  scholars  for  the  win- 
ter three  mcnths  was  eighty-five. 

After  this  meeting  closed,  I  spent  six  weeks  with  the 
churches  in  my  own  part  of  the  field  on  the  Sisseton 
Reservation.  I  found  the  people  at  Ascension  church,  J. 
B.  Renville,  pastor,  in  the  midst  of  church  building.  Their 
log  church  had  become  too  small,  and  they  had  for  a  year 
been  preparing  to  build  a  larger  and  better  house  of 
worship.  Mr.  Adams  took  a  great  interest  in  this 
enterprise,  and  helped  them  much  by  obtaining  contribu- 
tions, and  otherwise.  The  Dakota  men  and  women  also 
took  hold  of  it  as  their  own  work,  and  the  house  went  up, 
and  was  so  far  finished  before  the  winter,  that  its  dedica- 
tion took  place  about  the  middle  of  December.  The  cost 
of  the  house  was  then  given  at  $1,500.  Two  or  three 
hundred  more  were  afterward  used  in  its  internal  com- 
pletion. This  was  a  great  step  forward.  Dakota  Chris- 
tians build,  with  but  little  help,  their  own  house  of 
worship  ! 

About  the  middle  of  August  I  left  Sisseton  to  complete 
my  work  of  visiting  Indian  agencies,  which  I  had  under- 
taken to  do  for  the  American  Missionary  Association.  At 
Saint  Paul  I  was  joined  by  Rev.  Edward  Payson  Wheeler, 
who  was  just  from  Andover  Seminary.  He  was  the  son 
of  the  missionary  Wheeler,  who  had  spent  his  life  with 
the  Ojibwas,  at  Bad  River.  He  had  learned  the  language 
in  his  boyhood,  and  I  was  only  too  happy  to  have  as  my 
companion  of  the  journey,  one  who  was  at  home  among 
the  Ojibwas. 

From  St.  Paul  we  went  up  the  Lake  Superior  Road  un- 
til we  reached  the  Northern  Pacific,  on  which  we  traveled 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.        277 

westward  to  Brainerd,  and  then  took  stage  seventy  miles 
to  Leech  Lake.  There  we  found  white  friends  and  Ojib- 
was,  to  whom  we  preachedj  Mr.  Wheeler  trying  the 
language  he  had  not  used  for  years.  We  then  proceeded 
by  private  conveyance,  over  a  miserable  road  through  the 
pine  woods,  to  Red  Lake.  Rev.  Mr.  Specs  and  wife,  who 
were  there  doing  work  under  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  and  Agent  Pratt  received  us  kindly.  My 
friend  Wheeler  talked  with  the  Indians — the  old  men 
remembered  his  father,  and  seemed  to  warm  very  much 
toward  the  son.  It  appeared  to  me  that  there  was  a 
grand  opening  for  an  educational  work  and  preaching  the 
gospel.  When  we  left  Red  Lake  I  fully  believed  that 
E.  P.  Wheeler  would  return  there  as  a  missionary  before 
the  snow  fell.  But  I  was  disappointed.  The  American 
Missionary  Association  was  heavily  in  debt,  and  had  no 
disposition  whatever  to  enlarge  work  among  the  Indians. 

We  then  returned  by  the  way  we  came,  and  went  on  to 
Du  Luth,  where  we  took  a  steamer  on  the  Gitche  Gumme 
(Lake  Superior),  for  Bayfield.  On  the  down  lake  steamer 
we  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Rev.  John  McDougall,  a 
Methodist  minister,  who,  with  his  family,  was  £oing  to  the 
Canadian  Conference,  from  the  far  off  country  of  the 
Saskatchawan.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he 
had  been  a  missionary  among  the  Crees,  and  JBloods,  and 
Pieyans. 

But  what  interested  me  most,  was  the  account  he 
gave  of  a  small  band  of  about  seven  hundred  Indians 
called  STONEYS.  They  talk  the  Dakota  language,  and, 
as  their  name  indicates,  they  are  evidently  a  branch  of 
the  Assinaboines. 

The  name  Assinaboine  means  Stone  Sioux,  and  is  a 
compound  of  French  and  Ojibwa.  The  last  part  is 


278  MARY    AND    I. 

which  is  the  name  the  Ojibwas  give  the  Dakotasor  Sioux. 

These  Stoneys  are  said  to  be  all  Christians.  They 
have  their  school-house  and  church,  and  Rev.  John 
McDouyall,  son  of  the  old  gentleman,  is  their  missionary. 
They  live  on  Bow  River,  which,  I  suppose,  is  a  branch  of 
the  Saskatchawan,  about  two  hundred  miles  northwest 
from  Fort  Beiiton,  and  one  hundred  north  of  the  Can- 
ada line.  To  us  who  labor  among  the  Dakotas,  it  is  very 
cheering  to  know,  that  this  small  outlier  of  the  fifty 
thousand  Dakota-speaking  people  have  all  received  the 
gospel.  We  clap  our  hands  for  joy. 

Landing  at  Bayfield,  we  were  kindly  received  by  the 
Indian  Agent,  Dr,  Isaac  Mahan. 

Nestled  among  the  hills,  and  looking  out  into  the  bay, 
filled  with  the  Apostle  Islands,  this  town  has  rather  a 
romantic  position.  And  just  out  a  little  ways,  on  Mag- 
dalen Island,  is  LA  POIXTE,  the  old  mission  station.  We 
passed  around  it  in  a  sail-boat,  on  our  way  to  Odanah. 

Very  soon  after  reaching  Bayfield,  we  found  a  boat 
going  over  to  Odanqh,  which  I  understand  is  the  Ojibwa 
for  town  or  village,  and  which  is  the  name  by  which  the 
mission  station  on  Bad  River  has  long  been  known.  As 
I  entered  the  boat,  Mr.  Wheeler  introduced  me  to  the 
Ojibwa  men  who  were  to  take  us  over.  When  I  shook 
hands  with  one  of  them,  he  said,  "  My  father,  Mr.  Riggs." 
Was  he  calling  me  his  father,  or  was  it  the  Indian?  I 
wondered  which,  but  asked  no  questions.  Two  or  three 
days  after,  I  learned  that  adoption  was  one  of  the  Ojibwa 
customs,  and  that  when  Mr.  Wheeler  was  a  little  boy, 
this  man  lost  his  boy.  He  came  to  the  mission  and  said 
to  the  missionary,  "My  boy  is  gone;  you  have  a  great 
many  boys,  let  me  call  this  one  mine."  And  so  they  said 


FOKTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         279 

he  might  so  call  him;  and  from  that  time  Edward  Payson 
Wheeler  became  the  adopted  child  of  an  Ojibwa. 

Now,  after  he  had  been  gone  ten  years,  going  away  a 
boy  and  coming  back  a  man,  they  all  seemed  to  regard 
him  like  a  son  and  a  brother.  It  was  very  interesting  for 
me  to  see  how  they  all  inarmed  toward  him.  They  came 
to  see  him  and  wanted  him  to  go  to  their  houses.  They 
all  wanted  to  talk  with  him;  and  when  we  came  to  leaye, 
they  all  flocked  to  the  mission  to  shake  hands,  and  to  have 
a  last  word  and  a  prayer;  and  they  gave  him  more  muck- 
oks  of  manotnin  (wild  rice)  than  he  could  bring  away 
with  him. 

For  four  days  we  were  the  guests  of  the  Boarding 
School  which  is  in  charge  of  Rev.  Isaac  Baird.  We  be- 
came much  interested  in  the  school  and  the  teachers — 
Mrs.  Baird,  Miss  Harriet  Newell  Phillips,  Miss  Verbeek, 
Miss  Dougherty  and  Miss  Walker.  Naturally  I  should 
be  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the  Dakotas,  but  I  was  obliged 
to  confess,  that  I  had  not  seen  anywhere  twenty-five  boys 
and  girls  better  looking,  and  more  manly  and  womanly  in 
their  appearance  than  those  Ojibwas.  The  whole  com- 
munity gave  evidence  of  the  good  work  done  by  the 
school  in  past  years — many  of  the  grown  folks  being 
able  to  talk  English  quite  well. 

But  there  was  one  impression  that  came  to  me  without 
bidding — it  was  that  civilization  had  been  pressed  farther 
and  faster  th^n  evangelization.  While  houses  and  other 
improvements  attested  a  great  deal  of  labor  expended, 
the  native  church  is  quite  small,  only  now  numbering 
about  twenty-eight,  and  the  metaica,  their  sacred  heathen 
dance,  was  danced  while  we  were  there,  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  church.  My  spirit  was  stirred  within  me, 
and  I  said  to  the  members  of  that  native  church,  that 


280  MAKY    AND    I. 

they  ought  so  to  take  up  the  work  of  evangelizing  their 
own  people  in  good  earnest,  that  the  dancing  of  the 
metawa,  thus  publicly,  would  become  an  impossibility. 
My  visit  to  various  points  in  the  Ojibwa  country  has 
interested  me  very  greatly.  From  what  I  have  seen  and 
heard,  the  conviction  grew  upon  me,  that  the  whole 
Ojibwa  field  comprizing  thirteen  or  fourteen  thousand 
people,  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  is  now 
open  to  the  gospel,  as  it  never  has  been  before.  The 
old  laborers  sowed  the  good  seed,  but  they  saw  little  fruit. 
No  wonder  they  became  discouraged.  For  years  the  field 
was  almost  entirely  given  up.  But  although  the  servants 
retired,  the  Master  watched  the  work,  and  here  and  there 
the  seed  has  taken  root  and  sprung  up.  This  appears  in 
the  new  desire  prevailing,  that  they  may  again  have 
schools  and  missionaries.  Shall  we  not  take  advantage 
of  this  favorable  titne  to  tell  them  of  Jesus  the  Savior? 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         281 


CHAPTER  XX. 

1875-1876.— Annual  Meeting  of  1875.— Homestead  Settlement  on 
the  Big  Sioux. — Interest  of  the  Conference.— '  lapiOaye." — 
Inception  of  Native  Missionary  Work. — Theological  Class. — 
The  Dakota  Home.— Charles  L.  Hall  ordained.— Dr.  Magoun, 
of  Iowa. — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  sent  to  Berthold  by  the  Ameri- 
can Board. — The  "  Word  Carrier's  "  good  words  to  them.— The 
Conference  of  1876.— In  J.  B.  Renville's  Church.— Coming 
to  the  Meeting  from  Sully. — Miss  Whipple's  Siory. — "  Dakota 
Missionary  Society." — Miss  Collins'  Story. — Impressions  of 
the  Meeting. 

More  and  more  the  important  events  of  the  year  cul- 
minate in,  and  are  brought  out  by,  the  meeting  of  our 
Annual  Conference.  Heretofore  this  gathering  had  been 
in  June.  In  the  year  1875,  it  was  held  in  September,  at 
the  Homestead  Settlement  on  the  Big  Sioux.  Only  four 
years  had  passed  since  we  were  here  before,  but  in  this 
time  great  changes  had  taken  place.  They  had  erected  a 
log  church,  and  outgrown  it,  and  sold  it  to  the  government 
for  a  school-house,  and  had  just  completed,  or  nearly  com- 
pleted, a  commodious  frame  building.  In  this  our  meet- 
ings were  held.  Their  farms  and  dwelling  houses  had 
also  greatly  improved.  In  several  of  these  years  they 
had  been  visited  by  the  grasshoppers,  and  by  this  visita- 
tion they  had  lost  their  crops.  But  they  held  on — some- 
what discouraged  it  is  true.  When  their  prospects  and 
hopes  from  Mother  Earth  failed,  they  went  to  hunting,  and 
thus  they  had  worked  along.  This  year  they  had  a  fair 


282  MARY    AND    I. 

crop,  and  by  exerting  themselves  they  were  able  to  enter- 
tain more  than  a  hundred  Dakota  guests.  Besides  what 
they  could  furnish  from  their  own  farms,  they  had  raised 
about  $70  in  money,  which  they  expended  in  fresh  beef. 
Thus  they  made  princely  provision  for  the  meeting,  which 
was,  as  usual,  rich  and  full  of  interest. 

Our  Conference  meetings  began  on  the  afternoon  of 
Thursday,  Sept.  16,  and  by  that  time  we  were  all  on  the 
ground  and  ready.  We  had  journeyed,  camping  by  the 
way,  some  over  from  the  Missouri  and  others  down  from 
the  head  of  the  Coteau.  The  native  delegates  and  visit, 
ors  were  encamped  by  the  river-side,  convenient  to  wood 
and  water  and  the  place  of  meeting.  The  missionaries 
pitched  their  tents  by  the  house  and  enjoyed  the  hospi- 
tality of  P.  A.  Vannice  and  his  good  wife. 

At  the  time  appointed  we  gathered  at  the  church  and 
had  a  sermon  by  one  of  the  native  pastors — Louis. 
Then  came  the  business  organization  followed  by  short 
speeches  of  greeting  and  welcome.  On  the  following  day 
the  real  work  of  the  Conference  began.  Questions  relat- 
ing to  the  proper  training  and  education  of  children,  and 
the  training  and  preparation  needful  for  the  ministry,  were 
discussed  with  interest  and  profit.  The  next  day,  which 
was  Saturday,  was  taken  up  in  the  discussion  of  two  promi- 
nent subjects  of  interest — the  homestead  act  in  its  relation 
to  Indians,  and  our  Dakota  paper.  On  the  first  of  these 
topics  there  was  a  full  and  healthy  expression  of  opinion. 
It  was  said  that  the  plan  of  depending  on  the  government 
for  support  tended  to  bad.  Said  Ehnamane:  "  If  when 
we  are  hungry  we  cry  out  to  our  great  Father  'Give  us 
food, 'or  when  we  are  cold  we  say,  'Send  us  clothes,' we 
become  as  little  children — we  are  not  men.  Here  at  this 
place  we  see  that  each  man  takes  care  of  himself ;  he  has 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         283 

» 

a  farm  and  a  house,  and  some  have  a  cow  and  a  few.  chick- 
ens. We  go  into  their  houses  and  we  see  tables  and 
chairs,  and  when  they  eat  they  spread  a  cloth  over  the 
table,  as  do  white  people,  and  there  are  curtains  to  the 
windows,  and  we  see  the  women  dressed  like  white  women 
— here  we  find  men.  We  who  look  to  the  government 
for  food  and  clothing  are  not  men  but  little  children,  and 
the  longer  we  depend  on  the  government  the  lower 
down  we  find  ourselves."  Others  differed:  they  said  one 
could  grow  into  manhood  anywhere  supported  by  the 
government  or  caring  for  themselves.  Besides,  it  would 
not  do  to  be  too  confident.  It  was  hard  work  to  strike  out 
alone;  some  had  starved,  some  had  been  frozen  to  death, 
and  otheis  had  turned  back.  It  means  work  to  become  a 
self-supporting  citizen. 

Perhaps  there  was  as  much  real  feeling  expressed  when 
the  TAPI  OAYE  was  discussed,  as  at  any  other  time  during 
Conference.  Last  year  it  was  hoped  that  by  another  year 
the  paper  would  become  self-sustaining.  Owing  to 
several  reasons,  however,  the  subscription  receipts  for  the 
past  year  are  very  much  smaller  than  for  the  year  previous, 
necessitating  the  meeting  of  a  considerable  deficiency  by 
the  missionaries  themselves.  It  was  thought  best  for  our 
native  membership  to  know  the  facts  in  order  to  stimulate 
action  lest  we  be  obliged  to  discontinue  the  paper. 
However,  they  would  listen  to  nothing  of  that  kind. 

The  paper  has  so  strong  a  hold  on  the  people  as  to  be 
almost  a  necessity,  and  thereby  a  means  of  great  and 
growing  good.  Sabbath  morning  was  devoted  to  com- 
munion services,  and  the  113  native  delegates  and  visitors 
from  other  stations  united  with  their  brothers  at  Flandreau 
around  the  table  of  our  Lord. 

In  the  afternoon  we  had  a  grand  missionary  meeting 


284  MARY   AND    I. 

which  was  the  closing  of  the  Conference.  Speeches  were 
made  by  the  Fathers  in  the  mission  and  by  the  older  na- 
tive membership,  contrasting  the  darkness  of  the  past 
with  the  light  of  the  present.  It  seemed  as  we  listened 
to  the  words  of  joy  and  thanksgiving  spoken  by  those  who 
have  come  up  from  heathenism,  that  the  cup  of  joy  and 
gladness  must  be  full  to  overflowing  for  the  Fathers  of 
our  mission,  who  went  through  the  great  trials  and  dangers 
of  early  days,  and  who  are  permitted  to  look  upon  the 
wonderful  success  of  their  lives  spent  thus  in  the  Master's 
service. 

The  last  topic  discussed  had  somewhat  of  a  history. 
Sometime  during  the  year  before,  it  had  been  published 
that  the  American  Board  had  great  grand-children.  The 
mission  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  had  commenced  Christian 
work  on  the  Marquesas,  and  they  again  had  extended  it 
to  other  islands.  In  an  article  which  Dr.  Williamson 
furnished  to  the  "lapi  Oaye,"  under  the  heading  of  Chil- 
dren and  Grand- children,  he  recited  these  facts.  A  month 
or  two  afterward,  I  wrote  an  article  on  the  Children  of 
Grand-children,  in  which  I  said  I  was  thankful  for  chil- 
dren, but  wanted  grand-children. 

These  statements  worked  like  leaven  in  some  of  the 
natives'  minds.  David  Grey-cloud,  who  opened  the  sub- 
ject of  missionary  work  to  be  undertaken  by  the  na- 
tive churches,  had  been  stimulated  thereby.  The  whole 
assembly  seemed  to  be  ready  to  take  the  first  steps  in 
the  organization  of  a  native  Foreign  Mission  Society. 
A  commitee  was  appointed  for  that  object,  consisting 
of  J.  P.  Williamson,  A.  L.  Rigg",  John  B.  Renville, 
Robert  Hopkins  and  Iron  Track.  In  the  mean  time  the 
churches  were  exhorted  to  take  up  collections  for  the 
Foreign  Mission  Fund. 


FOflTY   YEARS   WITH   THE  SIOUX.  285 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1876,  at  the  Santee 
Agency,  in  connection  with  the  Mission  Training  School, 
a  THEOLOGICAL  CLASS  was  organized. 

For  a  few  years  past,  we  have  been  realizing  more  and 
more  the  want  of  a  higher  education  in  our  native  pastors 
and  preachers.  To  supply  this  defect,  and  prepare  the 
young  men  who  are  coming  up  to  the  work  to  fill  the 
places  of  the  fathers,  with  a  higher  grade  of  scholarship, 
and  especially  with  a  more  thorough  knowledge  and  ap- 
preciation of  Bible  truth,  this  plan  was  undertaken.  It  is 
only  a  beginning. 

The  regular  class  consisted  of  John  Eastman,  Eli 
Abraham ,  Albert  Frazier,  Henry  Tawa,  Peter  Eyoo- 
dooze,  and  Solomon  Chante,  with  Rev.  Artemas  Ehna- 
mane-t  the  pastor  of  the  Santee  church.  Some  others 
have  been  in  attendance  on  evening  exercises. 

The  object  has  been  to  give  them  as  much  knowledge 
and  training  as  could  be  imparted  and  received  in  the 
limited  space  of  four  weeks,  in  Bible  geography  and 
history,  in  the  main  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith, 
in  the  best  methods  of  teaching  Bible  truth,  the  founding 
and  growth  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  its  orders  of 
laborers,  in  its  ordinances,  in  its  service,  and  in  its 
benevolent  and  saving  work. 

For  the  first  two  weeks  of  the  term  A.  L.  Riggs  was 
assisted  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Williamson,  from  the  Yankton 
Agency,  which  is  the  home  of  three  of  the  young  men 
attending  the  class. 

I  had  received  an  urgent  invitation  to  come  on  from 
Beloit,  to  aid  in  the  instructions  of  the  last  two  weeks, 
which  I  quite  willingly  accepted.  While  at  the  Santee 
on  this  visit,  I  became  better  acquainted  with  the  work- 
ing of  the  Normal  school,  and  especially  of  that  part  of  it 


286  M  nn    AM.  i. 

culled  the  "Dtko  •  i.e  following  is  A. 

iption  Oi 

'I'm     I  >  1X01  \     I  I-  ;i    group    of 

for  educational   purposes,   !>••!. mgiiH.-    tO    th'-     . 

principal 

Nelna -;k.i.      It    was   built    by    the    i 

Board    of    M  ,  ,f  al>out    ^1,','nn.        It.   was 

ntil 
1,  ulthou^h  it  has  IMMMI  in  us--  IK.\V  for  \\\ 

••11   propnitionc'l    fniui.'    l)uihlii>^,  two 

stories    high, mul    12x48     !"••••!.    on    tlir    ground.        On     tlj«> 

the  large  dining- 

1ml I,  whieh  i-<   ills.  :,rirls, 

the   Home  kitchen  nnd   t  !)••  ii»-<  ••->  ,n  \   pftDtli  >sQt8. 

I'ndrjneath  is  the  i  nnnnodions  cellar  and  milk  room. 

"In  the  second,^  t  !..•  di><  nu  t . .( i-s.     There  are 

ten    sleeping  'id  a  1. nth  room.       1 

tended  to  he  oeenpi--d  hy  only  two  girls,  though  three   of 

them   can    a-  < -omodate    four,    if'    nr. -.  ssary.       ; 

ing  :  Mtomntically  nnd  tli'.roughlv  ventiln 

pi-ning  I  wind-.u." 

Th--  obJ6d   "I"   the    1  >,ik"i,i    |  I,,,,.  rain  up  i 

HI   .-iV.u-t 
train  them  into  th,-  know!. 

instill   in   th.-in   the  prineiph-s  of  right   n>  ' 

dtivate  i  pline, 

id    wash,  86W  and  rut  guru 

Olit,  milk.  m;ikr   l.utf.-r,    ,.,  ,l;r  l.eds,  swe.-p  \],, 
and   nnything  «•!'-••   p--i  nuning  to  ho  -..ng,  and  ' 

us  tun.-  th.-  !  !  .ID  the  charge  of   M 

I     : .  me   Nil  .  Joseph  Steer — «: 

Am. 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  287 

Before  I  reft  the  San  tee  to  return  to  my  home  in  Beloit, 
the  ordination  of  Mr.  Charles  L.  Hall  was  announced  to 
take  place  at  Yankton  on  the  22d  of  February,  and  I 
was  sorry  I  could  not  remain  and  take  part.  The  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Hall  and  Miss  Calhoun  was  consummated 
at  the  Yankton  Agency  a  week  previous  to  this  time. 

For  the  ordination  the  Congregational  churches  of  Yank- 
ton  and  Springfield  had  united  in  calling  the  Coun- 
cil. The  call  included  the  neighboring  Congregational 
churches  and  three  of  our  native  churches.  The  Santee 
Agency  church  was  represented  by  Pastor  ArtemasEhna- 
mane  and  Deacon  Robert  Swift  Deer.  The  Council 
convened  in  Mr.  Ward's  church.  The  venerable. Rev 
Charles  Seccombe,  of  Nebraska,  was  moderator,  and  Rev. 
A.  D.  Adams,  of  Sioux  Falls,  was  scribe. 

The  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Geo.  F.  Magoun, 
D.  D.,  of  Iowa  College;  and  his  theme  was  "  The  Chris- 
tian Ambassadorship."  It  was  said  to  be  a  sermon  worthy 
of  the  occasion  and  the  preacher.  It  was  eminently  fit- 
ting that  Dr.  Magoun  should  preach  the  sermon  on  the 
sending  off  of  this  new  mission.  For  among  those  who 
bore  such  effective  testimony  in  behalf  of  Indian  missions, 
on  the  platform  of  the  American  Board  in  Chicago,  was 
President  Magoun.  The  ordaining  prayer  was  made  by 
Rev.  John  P.  Williamson;  the  charge  was  given  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Ward,  and  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  by  Rev. 
A.  L.  Riggs. 

Thus  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  were  set  apart  and  se:it  off  to 
plant  the  standard  of  the  cross  at  Fort  Berthold,  among 
the  Mandans  and  Rees  and  Hidatsa,  at  a  point  on  the 
Missouri,  1,500  miles  above  its  mouth.  The  "  Word 
Carrier,"  for  April,  1876,  gave  them  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship.  It  said:  "  They  must  be  a  part  of  us.  They 


MARY    AND   I. 

will,  in  fact,  form  a  part  of  the  Dakota  Mission.  We  will 
work  with  them,  by  our  prayers  and  sympathies,  and  Da- 
kota books  and  native  help,  so  far  as  they  can  use  them." 
It  said  to  them:  "  Go  and  plant  the  standard  of  the  cross* 
at  Berthold,  and  'Hold  the  Fort'  for  the  Master.  You 
have  the  old  promise  '  Lo !  I  AM  WITH  YOU  ALL  DAYS.'  It 
is  ever  new  and  ever  inspiring.  And  yet  there  may  be  dark 
days  and  lonesoma  nights  perhaps.  You  will  have  to 
learn  the  way  into  dark,  human  hearts,  which  must  be 
done  'by  the  Patience  of  Hope,  and  the  Labor  of  Love.' 
You  will  tell  them,  in  the  heart's  language,  of  that  strange 
love  of  the  Great  Father,  who  sent  His  Son  to  seek  and 
save  the  lost.  You  will  entreat  the  Holy  Spirit  to  beget 
in  the  Hidatsa  and  Ree  and  Mandan  people,  a  soul- 
hunger  that  can  only  be  satisfied  with  the  Bread  and  the 
Water  of  Life.  And  may  the  good  Lord  keep  you  ever- 
more and  give  you  showers  of  blessing." 

According  to  previous  announcement  in  the  "  Word 
Carrier,"  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Dakota  Mission  and 
Conference  of  the  native  churches,  commenced  its  sessions 
on  the  afternoon  of  Sept.  7,  1876,  in  the  new  and  beauti- 
ful church  of  Ascension,  J.  B.  Renville,  pastor.  The 
house  was  crowded.  The  delegations  and  visitors  from 
Yankton,  Santee,  Flandreau  and  Brown  Earth  amounted 
to  106. 

The  convention  was  opened  with  prayer  and  singing, 
Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs  and  Rev.  David  Grey  Cloud,  English 
and  Dakota  secretaries,  presiding.  A  new  Dakota  hymn 
of  welcome  was  sung  by  the  choir  and  church,  when  words 
of  welcome  were  spoken  by  Pastor  J.  B.  Renville,  and  by 
Agent  J.  G.  Hamilton,  of  the  Sisseton  Agency,  and  by 
S.  R.  Riggs.  These  were  responded  to  by  J.  P.  William- 
son, for  the  Yanktons;  by  Rev.  Artemas  Ehnamane,  for 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  289 

the  Santees,  and  by  Rev.  John  Eastman,  for  the  large 
delegation  from  the  Big  Sioux. 

The  Conference,  then  proceeded  to  make  out  the  roll 
Ind  perfect  its  organization.  All  the  native  pastors  were 
present,  with  elders,  and  deacons,  and  teachers,  and  mes- 
sengers from  the  churches,  numbering  together  fifty-nine, 
and  missionaries,  eleven.  T.  L.  Riggs  and  David  Grey 
Cloud  were  chosen  secretaries  for  the  next  two  years. 
The  Conference  then  listened  to  an  address  on  family 
worship  from  Dr.  T.  S.  Williamson. 

From  the  speeches  of  welcome  and  the  responses  it 
was  manifest  that,  for  months,  the  convention  has  been 
looked  forward  to  with  great  interest;  all  parties  have 
come  up  to  the  meeting  with  joyful  expectations.  Major 
J.  G.  Hamilton,  the  representative  of  the  government 
on  this  Reserve,  has  made  liberal  arrangements  to  feed 
all  the  Dakota  visitors,  for  which  he  has  our  thanks  in 
advance. 

Rev.  A.  D.  Adams,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church, 
at  Sioux  Falls,  we  are  glad  to  welcome  to  our  hospital- 
ities and  discussions. 

Although  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time  we  were 
together,  the  clouds  were  over  us,  arid  sometimes  envel- 
oped us,  all  the  services  were  very  largely  attended;  and 
on  Sabbath  the  crowd  was  so  great  that  we  were  obliged 
to  hold  our  morning  service  out  of  doors.  The  subjects 
brought  before  the  Conference  for  discussion  were  of  vital 
practical  interest,  and  were  entered  into  with  enthusiasm 
by  the  native  speakers,  and  the  action  taken  upon  them 
was  usually  very  satisfactory. 

While  our  meetings  were  in  progress,  there  came  a 
message  to  us  from  the  white  man's  country,  asking  that 
our  Dakota  churches  unite  with  white  Christians  all  along 


290  MARY    AND    I. 

the  western  border,  in  a  Prayer  League  against  the  grass- 
hoppers. While  Sitting  Bull  and  the  hostile  Dakoias  are 
fighting  with  the  white  soldiers  in  one  part  of  the  country, 
and  it  may  be,  by  the  cruelties  of  one  side  or  both,  bring- 
ing upon  us  this  scourge  from  the  hand  of  God,  it  is  emi- 
nently fitting  that  the  praying  Dakotas  and  the  praying 
white  people  should  together  humble  themselves  before 
Him.  So  said  the  Dakotas. 

It  will  give  variety  and  interest  to  the  circumstances 
and  proceedings  of  this  meeting  to  have  them  recounted 
by  others. 


"  The  morning  of  September  1st  found  the  Missionaries 
of  Bogue  Station,  near  Fort  Sully,  on  their  way  to  the 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Dakota  Mission.  The  party  con- 
sisted of  five — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riggs,  Misses  Collins  and 
Whipple  and  little  Theodore.  The  carriage  was  heavily 
loaded  with  articles  needed  for  the  overland  journey,  con- 
sisting of  tent,  tent  poles  and  pins,  ax,  gun,  stove,  cook- 
ing utensils,  provision  boxes,  traveling  bags,  blankets  and 
robes. 

"  A  number  of  the  Indians  had  promised  to  accompany 
them,  but  the  coming  Council  of  the  Commissioners 
proved  a  greater  attraction  than  the  gathering  together 
of  their  Christian  brethren,  and  they  remained  at  home. 

"  The  day  was  cool  but  pleasant,  and  all  enjoyed  the 
ride,  which  gave  them  keen  appetites  for  the  dinner  taken 
on  the  bank  of  the  Huhboju.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Riggs 
shot  some  ducks,  while  others  gathered  willows  to  carry 
along  for  the  night's  fire,  as  at  that  camping  place  there 
was  no  wood. 

"  The  second  day  proved  to  be  the  most  eventful  of  the 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         291 

trip.  A  village  of  prairie  dogs  was  passed,  a  rabbit  chased, 
and  an  antelope  seen.  But  the  great  event  was  the  tip 
over — not  an  ordinary  upset,  but  a  complete  revolution 
of  the  carriage.  The  large  grasses  grew  so  thickly  across 
the  track  that  a  deep  rut  was  concealed  from  view;  and 
had  it  been  thought  necessary  to  drive  from  the  track,  the 
bluif  on  one  side  and  a  water  hole  on  the  other  would 
have  prevented. 

"  The  upper  part  of  the  carriage  was  too  heavy  to  keep 
its  balance  when  the  wheels  went  into  the  rut,  and  the.  whole 
outfit  was  precipitated  six  feet  down  the  bank  into  the 
water  hole,  which,  fortunately,  was  dry.  Mrs.  Biggs 
slipped  from  her  seat  and  was  held  down  by  the  provisions, 
boxes  and  blankets,  which  fell  upon  her  when  the  carriage 
passed  over.  Mr.  Riggs  found  himself  upon  the  axletree. 
Miss  Collins  gave  a  faint '  Oh,  oh  !  '  and  said  *  Don't  hurt 
the  baby.'  The  baby  was  the  safest  of  all.  He  was  nearly 
asleep  on  Miss  Whipple's  arm,  and  was  there  held  while 
she  went  through  a  series  of  circus  performing  hitherto 
unknown.  When  all  were  safely  out  and  it  was  known 
that  no  one  was  seriously  injured,  exclamations  of  joy 
and  thankfulness  were  uttered. 

"  Mr  Riggs  started  in  pursuit  of  the  team,  which  had 
become  detached  from  the  carriage  by  the  breaking  of  a 
bolt,  and,  frightened  by  the  confusion,  had  run  away. 
They  were  easily  caught,  as  one  ran  faster  than  the  other 
and  thus  running  went  in  a  circle.  Miss  Collins  com- 
menced searching  for  the  whiffletree  and  found  it  nearly 
a  half  mile  away. 

"  The  boxes,  bags,  blankets,  &c.,  were  taken  out,  the 
carriage  drawn  into  the  road  and  the  bows  of  the  top 
mended  by  means  of  a  tent  pin  and  a  strap.  The  broken 
bolt  was  replaced  by  a  lariat  and  picket-pin,  and  the 


292  MARY    AND    I. 

dashboard  found  a  place  in  the  feed-box  in  the  rear. 
Other  things  were  arranged  in  their  respective  places,  the 
team  hitched  to  the  conveyance,and  in  a  little  more  than 
an  hour  from  the  time  of  stopping  they  were  again  jour- 
neying onward.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riggs  and  Miss  Collins 
had  a  few  bruises,  the  other  two  not  a  scratch  of  which 
to  boast. 

"  At  noon  they  lunched  under  the  trees  beside  a  dry  lake 
bed.  All  the  water  they  had  they  brought  with  them  in 
a  canteen. 

"  The  head  of  Snake  Creek  was  the  next  place  where 
water  could  be  found,  and  this  place  they  hoped  to  reach 
by  six  o'clock.  But  the  road  was  long  and  the  horses 
weary.  It  was  eight  o'clock  when  the  creek  was  reached, 
and  then  it  was  found  to  be  dry.  There  was  nothing 
to  be  done  but  to  drive  ten  miles  farther,  where  there  were 
both  wood  and  water.  „ 

"  Little  Theodore  seemed  to  realize  that  all  was  not  quite 
right,  and  knowing  his  bed-time  was  passed  asked  his 
mamma  to  sing.  Then  said,  *  Mamma,  keep  still  while  I 
pray.'  Folding  his  hands  he  lisped  in  sweet  baby  ac- 
cents,— '  Dear  Father  in  Heaven,  take  care  of  little 
Theodore,  Grandma  and  Grandpa,  Papa  and  Mamma 
Aunt  May  and  Miss  Whipple,  for  Jesus'  sake,  Amen.' 
Then  he  settled  down  in  the  seat  to  sleep.  Happy,  trust- 
ing child!  He  that  careth  for  sparrows  would  not  fail  to 
hear  the  prayer  o/  the  little  two-year-old  who  had  ex- 
pressed the  thought  of  each  heart.  It  was  nearly  mid- 
night when  supper  was  over  and  camp  work  done. 

"  All  were  thankful  that  the  next  day  was  the  Day  of 
Rest.  The  horses  not  less  than  the  people. 

"  The  Sabbath  was  bright  and  beautiful,  and  though 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  from  any  habitation  they  felt  they 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  293 

were  not  alone,  but  that  the  God,  who  is  worshiped  in 
temples  not  made  by  hands,  was  with  them,  through  all 
the  pleasant  hours  of  the  holy  day. 

"  Old  Sol  now  concluded  to  veil  his  face  awhile,  and 
Monday  morning  was  ushered  in  by  a  heavy  rain.  About 
nine  o'clock  the  clouds  broke  away  and  preparations 
were  made  to  start.  Before  these  were  completed  the 
rain  again  commenced  falling.  They,  however,  did  not 
tarry,  but  rode  ten  miles  in  the  moist  atmosphere,  which 
took  the  starch  out  of  the  ladies'  sunbonnets,  wet  the 
robes  and  bedding,  but  did  not  dampen  the  spirits  of  the 
party. 

"  Then  they  decided  to  wait  until  the  storm  abated. 
Pitched  the  tent  in  the  rain  and  remained  there  until  the 
next  morning,  when  the  journey  was  resumed,though  the 
rain-drops  were  still  falling. 

"  Wednesday  forenoon  they  saw  an  Indian  house  and 
met  four  Indians, — the  first  house  passed  and  the  first 
persons  seen  since  Bogue  Station  was  left. 

"  That  evening,  just  at  dusk,  the  Jim  River  was  forded, 
and  that  night  spent  on  its  bank  in  fighting  mosquitoes. 

"  Thursday  they  ascended  the  Coteau  Range  and  made  a 
call  at  Fort  Wads  worth.  Two  hundred  miles  had  been 
traveled  and  they  had  now  arrived  at  the  first  settlement. 
A  few  miles  on  their  camp  was  made,  and  early  the  next 
morning  they  started,  hoping  to  reach  Good  Will  in  time 
for  dinner.  Good  Will  was  reached,  but  no  person  could 
be  found.  Bolted  doors  prevented  an  entrance,  and  now 
they  must  go  eight  miles  to  Ascension  church,  where  the 
Conference  was  in  session. 

"  After  rfding  up  and  down  the  many  hills  over  which 
the  road  runs,  they  stopped  at  an  Indian  house  to  inquire 
the  way.  Out  rushed  a  multitude  of  men  and  women. 


294  MARY    AND    I. 

One  old  lady,  a  mother  in  Israel,  came  hurrying  along  on 
her  staff,  saying,  '  That's  Thomas,  that's  Thomas.'  They 
all  shook  hands  and  expressed  their  joy,  because  of  the 
safe  arrival.  The  thought  came,  'It  is  worth  all  the 
trouble  of  a  journey  across  the  wide  prairie  to  see  so 
many  Christian  Indians.' 

"  A  little  farther  on  the  old  church,  now  used  for  a 
school  building,  was  reached  and  found  to  be  occupied 
by  most  of  the  missionaries  who  were  attending  the 
meeting.  They  kindly  welcomed  the  weary  travelers 
who  had  come  so  far  from  the  wild  Teeton  band,  and  took 
them  in  and  warmed  and  fed  them. 

"  But  the  subject  which  pre-eminently  engaged  the  at- 
tention of  the  Conference,  on  this  occasion,  and  drew 
from  our  native  pastors  and  laymen  enthusiastic  words, 
was  that  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  regions  beyond." 

T.  L.  Biggs  has  written  the  following  account,  of  the 
formation  of  a  native 

DAKOTA  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY! 

"  A  year  since,  steps  were  taken  at  our  Ptaya  Owo- 
hdaka  gathering  for' the  formationof  a  Native  Missionary 
Society.  The  question  was  '  Are  not  the  native  Chris- 
tians ready  and  able  to  support  a  special  agency  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  among  the  still  heathen  Dakotas?' 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  canvass  the  matter  and 
report  at  the  next  Annual  Conference.  At  this  meeting, 
which  has  just  adjourned,  the  missionary  committee  re- 
ported over  $240  cash  in  hand,  and  recommended  that  (1) 
a  Missionary  Board  of  three  members — one  the  Secretary, 
another  Treasurer — be  elected;  and  (2)  a  full  discussion 
and  expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  the  Conference. 
This  discussion  was  earnest,  and  showed  an  understanding 
of  the  subject  and  a  readiness  to  grapple  with  its  difficul- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          295 

ties  that  was  very  gratifying.  The  Missionary  Board  was 
carefully  chosen  and  instructed  to  select  a  fit  man  and 
send  him  out  at  once.  After  some  consideration,  David 
Grey  Cloud,  pastor  of  the  Ma-ya-san  church,  was  chosen 
by  the  Board.  His  acceptance  being  received,  the  Sab- 
bath afternoon  service  was  mainly  devoted  to  his  special 
setting  apart  for  the  new  work. 

"  This  is  the  first  effort  of  the  kind.  Heretofore  our 
own  Missionary  Boards  have  fathered  every  such  attempt. 
The  support  of  native  workers  has  come  in  part  or  en- 
tirely from  white  people.  Now  in  this  new  attempt  all 
this  is  changed.  The  native  Christians  send  and  support 
their  own  man.  We  thank  God  that  they  are  ready  to 
do  this. 

"  The  new  missionary  will  have  for  his  special  field  the 
Standing  Rock  Agency,  though  during  the  colder  winter 
months,  he  will  probably  spend  the  most  of  his  time  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Sully  and  Cheyenne  Agency. 
To  those  in  official  position,  as  well  as  all  others,  whom  he 
may  meet,  we  commend  him  for  the  work's  sake  and  the 
Master's." 

MISS  MARY  c.  COLLINS'  STORY 

"  We  had  just  come  from  a  region  where  they  are  still 
abiding  in  the  shadow  of  death,  and  where  they  are  just 
beginning  to  learn  that  they  may  have  life  and  have  it 
more  abundantly,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  No 
wonder  that  when  I  saw  so  many  rejoicing  in  His  love  I 
felt  like  exclaiming,  '  God  has  said,  Let  there  be  Light,' 
and  all  the  powers  of  earth  cannot  withhold  it,  for  God's 
time  is  at  hand.  Could  all  the  Christians  in  our  land  have 
beheld  with  me  such  a  multitude,  partaking  of  the  Lord's 
supper  and  obeying  that  loving  command, '  This  do  in  re- 


296  MARY   AND    I. 

membrance  of  me,'  their  hearts  would,  I  think,  have  been 
filled  with  thanksgiving,  and  a  long  and  earnest  shout  of 
1  Glory  to  God  in  the  Highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good 
will  toward  men,'  would  have  resounded  through  the 
land. 

"  They  have  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  are  not  satisfied 
with  being  saved  the  mselves  only,  butdesire  the  salva- 
tion of  their  benighted  brethren.  They  have  organized 
a  missionary  association  and  raised  in  one  year  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  support  a  missionary.  He  is 
sent  forth  from  this  meeting,  and  how  it  must  have  re- 
joiced the  hearts  of  those  good  men  who  have  grown 
grey  in  the  service,  to  see  this  young  man  arising  from 
the  degradation  of  his  forefathers,  standing  on  the  Chris- 
tian platform,  receiving  the  blessings  of  his  people,  and 
pledging  himself  faithfully  to  perform  his  work  toward 
them,  and  to  his  God.  They  must  have  had  feelings  akin 
to  those  of  Simeon  when  he  beheld  the  Savior,  '  For  mine 
eyes  have  beheld  thy  salvation.'  When  I  saw  the  work 
these  women  had  done  to  help  sustain  their  paper,  again 
I  was  amazed.  Twenty  dollars  worth  of  fancy  work  was 
sold,  and  the  women  had  done  it  all  themselves.  Well 
may  we  say,  l  They  have  done  what  they  could.'  They 
only  have  one  paper,  the  '  Word  Carrier,'  and  it  was 
about  to  fail  for  want  of  means  to  carry  it  on,  and  these 
women,  with  a  truly  Christian  spirit,  went  to  work  to  sus- 
tain this  important  disseminator  of  truth.  That  was  far 
more  for  them  to  give  than  for  our  Christians  at  home  to 
subscribe  for  the  paper  and  make  it  self-supporting.  On 
Sabbath  there  was  not  room  in  their  large  church  to  hold 
the  people,  and  we  were  obliged  to  hold  services  in  the 
open  air,  and  seven  or  eight  hundred  Dakotas  were  pres- 
ent to  hear  God's  message  to  them.  And  to  me  it 


FORTY   YEARS   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  297 

seemed  the  most  beautiful  sight  I  ever  beheld.  There 
were  several  admitted  into  the  church,  and  one  girl  who 
was  about  sixteen  years  old,  who  was  baptized  in  infancy, 
now  in  youth,  comes  out  on  the  Lord's  side.  A  little 
boy  about  twelve  years  old  was  baptized,  and  I  thought 
of  many  of  the  little  boys  at  home  even  older  than  that, 
who  had  not  accepted  the  Savior,  and  although  they  have 
so  many  blessings,  yet  che  hath  chosen  the  good  part 
which  shall  not  be  taken  away  from  him.' 

"  I  think  the  angels  in  Heaven  rejoiced  when  these  peo- 
ple lifted  up  their  hearts  and  voices  in  praise  to  Him. 
And  as  the  old  missionary  hymn  rang  out  on  the  air  I 
thought  it  seemed  even  grander  than  ever  before.  " 


298  MARY    AND    I. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

1871-1877.— The  Wilder  Sioux.— Gradual  Openings.— Thomas 
Lawrence. — Visit  to  the  Laud  of  the  Teetons. — Fort  Sully.— 
Hope  Station. — Mrs.  Gen.  Stanley  in  the  Evangelist. — Work 
by  Native  Teachers. — Thomas  Married  to  Nina  Foster. — 
Nina's  First  Visit  to  Sully.  -  Attending  the  Conference  and 
American  Board. — Miss  Collins  and  Miss  Whipple. — Bogue 
Station. — The  Mission  Surroundings. — Chapel  Built. — Mis- 
sion Work. — Church  Organized. — Sioux  War  of  1876. — Com- 
munity Excited. — Schools. — "Waiting  for  a  Boat." — Miss 
Whipple  Dies  at  Chicago.— Mrs.  Nina  Riggs'  Tribute.— The 
Conference  of  1877  at  Sully. — Questions  Discussed. — Grand 
Impressions. 

We  had  been  long  thinking  of,  and  looking  toward, 
the  wilder  part  of  the  Sioux  nation,  living  on,  and  west 
of,  the  Missouri  River.  More  than  thirty  years  before 
this,  in  company  with  Mr.  Alex.  G.  Huggins,  I  hid  made 
a  trip  over  from  Lac-qui-parle  to  Fort  Pierre.  The  object 
of  that  visit  was  to  inform  ourselves  in  regard  to  the 
Teetons — their  numbers  and  condition,  and  whether  we 
ought  then  to  commence  mission  work  among  them.  And 
since  the  Santees  were  brought  to  the  Missouri,  we  had 
made  several  preaching  tours  up  the  river,  stopping 
awhile  with  the  Brules  at  Crow  Creek,  and  with  the  Min- 
nekanjoos,  the  Oohenonpa,  the  Ogallala  and  the  Itazipcho 
of  the  Cheyenne  and  Standing  Rock  Agencies.  The 
bringing  of  our  Christianized  people  into  proximity  with 
the  wild  part  of  the  nation,  seemed  to  indicate  God's 
purpose  of  carrying  the  gospel  to  them  also. 

The  field  was  evidently  now  open,  and  waiting  for  the 
sower  of  the  precious  seed  of  the  Word.  There  was  no 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         299 

audible  cry  of,  "  Come  over  and  help  us,"  nor  was  there 
in  the  case  of  Paul  with  the  Macedonian.  But  there  was 
the  same  unrest,  the  same  agony,  the  same  reaching  out 
after  a  knowledge  of  God,  now  as  then.  We  listened  to 
it,  and  assuredly  gathered  that  the  Lord  would  have  us 
work  among  the  Teetons. 

THOMAS  LAWRENCE  was  Mary's  second  boy.  He  could 
hardly  be  reconciled  with  the  idea  that  his  mother  should 
go  away  to  the  spirit  land,  while  he  was  down  in  Missis- 
sippi teaching  the  freedmen.  Now  he  had  been  two 
years  in  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  and  was  asking 
what  he  should  do  when  the  other  year  was  finished.  The 
Prudential  Committee  of  the  American  Board  were  look- 
ing around  for  some  one  to  send  to  the  Upper  Missouri. 
Thomas  had  been  born  and  brought  up,  in  good  part,  in 
the  land  of  the  Dakotas;  but  they  deemed  it  only  fair 
that  he  should  now,  with  a  man's  eyes  see  the  field,  and 
with  a  man's  heart  better  understand  the  work,  before 
committing  himself  to  it.  And  so,  in  his  summer  vaca- 
tion of  1871,  they  said  to  him,  "  Go  with  your  father  to 
the  land  of  the  Teetons,  and  see  whether  you  can  find 
your  life  work  with  them." 

We  came  to  the  land  of  the  Teetons,  and  stopped  for 
five  or  six  weeks  at  Fort  Sully,  which  was  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cheyenne  Agency.  There  we  found  ^Chap- 
lain G.  D.  Crocker,  who  had  been  much  interested  in  our 
work  among  the  Dakotas  when  stationed  at  Fort  Wads- 
worth.  We  found,  also,  good  and  true  Christian  friends 
in  Captain  Irvine  and  his  wife,  and  in  the  noble  Mrs. 
General  Stanley,  the  wife  of  the  commandant  of  the 
post.  In  the  mornings  of  our  stay  in  the  garrison,  we  of- 
ten gathered  buffalo  berries — Mashtinpoota,  rabbit  noses, 
as  the  Indians  called  them.  During  the  day  we  talked 


300  MARY    AND    I. 

with  the  Dakotas,  and  studied  the  Teeton  dialect,  and 
also  the  Assinaboine  and  the  Ree.  In  our  judgment  the 
time  hid  fully  come  for  us  to  commence  evangelistic 
work  in  this  part  of  the  nation.  Our  friends  at  Sully 
thought  so,  and  the  Prudential  Committee  did  not  hesi- 
tate a  moment.  Indeed,  they  could  not  wait  for  Thomas 
to  finish  his  Seminary  course,  but  sent  him  off  in  mid- 
winter to  Fort  Sully.  He  was  ordained  by  a  council 
which  met  in  Beloit. 

The  Indians  of  the  Cheyenne  Agency,  a  portion  of 
them,  were  distributed  along  down  in  the  Missouri  Bot- 
tom, in  little  villages  and  clusters  of  houses.  In  a  vil- 
lage of  this  kind  a  little  below  the  Fort,  and  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  T.  L.  Riggs  erected  his  first 
house.  It  was  a  hewed  log  cabin  with  two  rooms  below, 
one  of  which  was  a  school-room.  The  garret  was  ar- 
ranged for  sleeping  apartments.  This  was  called  Hope 
Station,  so  named  by  Capt.  Irvine's  little  daughter,  who, 
about  this  time,  came  into  the  Christian  hope. 

Of  this  new  enterprise,  Mrs.G-en.  D.  &.  Stanley  sent  a 
very  pleasant  notice  to  the  N~ew  York  Evangelist.  "  Six 
years  ago,"  she  says,  "  my  lot  was  cast  among  the  Sioux, 
or  Dakota  Indians,  who  inhabit  the  region  bordering  on 
the  Missouri  River,  500  miles  above  Sioux  City,  Iowa, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Sully,  Dakota  Territory.  All 
this  time  it  has  been  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that  no 
Christian  missionary  was  laboring  among  these  heathens, 
while  so  many  were  sent  to  foreign  lands.  In  reply  to  a 
suggestion  to  this  effect,  made  to  the  American  Board,  it 
was  stated  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  induce  a  compe- 
tent person  to  undertake  so  difficult  and  dangerous  a 
task. 

"  Meanwhile  God  was  preparing  the  way.     A  boy  had 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE  SIOUX.  301 

grown  up  among  the  Dakotas,  speaking  their  language, 
understanding  their  customs,  and  identifying  himself 
with  their  best  interests.  He  was  at  this  time  in  college 
preparing  for  the  ministry,  and  last  spring  this  young 
man,  Rev.  T.  L.  Riggs,  son  ofthe  veteran  missionary  and 
Dakota  scholar  of  that  name,  came  to  this  place,  and  en- 
tered upon  the  work  for  which  he  seemed  to  be  so  pecu- 
liarly fitted.  Almost  unassisted,  except  by  a  brother, 
and  some  facilities  for  work  afforded  bv  the  commandant 
of  Fort  Sully,  he  has  erected  two  log  buildings,  and,  al- 
ready, schools  are  in  operation  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
attended  by  about  sixty  Indians  of  various  ages.  Two 
native  teachers  were  employed  during  the  summer,  and 
two  are  engaged  for  the  winter.  Mr.  Riggs  has  sur- 
mounted great  difficulties,  inseparable  from  such  efforts, 
in  remote  and  unsettled  regions;  but  he  is  full  of  energy, 
and  bis  heart  is  in  the  work." 

From  the  beginning,  it  has  been  the  aim,  at  this  sta- 
tion, to  do  the  work  of  education  very  much  by  means  of 
native  teachers.  The  first  summer,  a  young  man  from 
the  Yankton  Agency,  Toonwan-ojanjan  by  name,  was 
employed,  and  also  Louis  Mazawakinyanna  from  Sis- 
seton.  The  next  autumn,  James  Red  Wing  and  his  wife 
Martha,  and  Blue  Feather  (Suntoto)  were  brought  up 
from  the  Santees.  Red  Wing's  wife  taught  the  women 
in  letters  and  the  family  arts,  while  the  men  taught  the 
young  men  and  children  generally,  and  greatly  aided  in 
the  religious  teachings  of  the  Sabbath.  Afterward, 
Dowanmane,  another  Santee  man,  was  employed  in  like 
manner.  This  was  the  commencement  of  educational 
and  Christian  work  in  this  Teeton  field. 

At  another  point,  some  few  miles  below  Hope  Station, 
on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  was  another  Dakota  vil- 


302  MARY    AND    I. 

lage,  where  Thomas  immediately  commenced  holding  a 
preaching  service,  and  has  kept  up  a  school.  It  is  one  of 
his  out  stations,  and  called  Ghantier,  from  the  name  of 
the  creek  and  bottom.  While  the  opportunities  for  edu- 
cation and  the  new  teaching  were  looked  upon  favora- 
bly, and  gladly  received  by  many,  there  were  not  want- 
ing those  who  were  savagely  opposed.  At  different 
times  while  Henry  M.  Riggs,  who  spent  several  years 
aiding  in  the  erection  of  buildings  and  other  general 
work,  was  present  with  Thomas  at  Hope  Station,  their 
house  and  tent  were  fired  upon  by  Indians,  and  residence 
there  seemed  hardly  safe. 

When  he  had  thus  started  the  work,  leaving  it  to  be 
cared  for  and  carried  on  by  Henry  M.  Riggs  and  Edmund 
Cooley  and  the  native  teachers,  Thomas  went  down  to 
the  States  to  consummate  a  marriage  engagement  with 
Cornelia  Margaret  Foster  (known  as  Nina  Foster),  daugh- 
ter of  Hon.  John  B.  Foster,  of  Bangor,  Maine.  It  was 
winter,  and  not  considered  advisable  for  Mrs.  Riggs  to 
return  with  her  husband  to  his  home  among  the  Teetons. 
She  made  a  visit  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Howard,  at 
Glencoe,  in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago,  and  in  the  spring 
month  of  May,  I  accompanied  her  up  the  Missouri.  We 
had  a  particularly  long  voyage  of  eleven  days,  on  the 
Katie  Koontz,  between  the  San  tee  Agency  and  Fort 
Sully  :  so  long,  that  we  picked  up  Thomas  on  the  way, 
coming  to  meet  us  in  his  little  skiff. 

Thomas  and  Nina  returned  to  Sully  after  our  mission 
meeting  at  the  Yankton  Agency,  and  then,  in  Septem- 
ber, went  to  the  meeting  of  the  Board  at  Minneapolis. 

Sully  was  a  far-off  station.  There  were  many  reasons 
why  a  white  woman  should  not  be  there  alone.  Miss 
Lizzie  Bishop's  election  to  go  back  with  them,  together 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          303 

with  her  beautiful  life  and  early  death,  have  been  de- 
tailed in  a  preceding  chapter. 

She  had  fallen  out  of  the  working  ranks,  but  others 
were  ready  to  step  to  the  front.  In  the  previous  spring, 
Secretary  Treat  had  told  me  that  there  were  two  young- 
ladies  in  Iowa,  who  were  anxious  to  engage  in  mission 
work.  They  preferred  to  go  to  the  Indians,  as  they  desired 
to  labor  together.  It  was  a  David  and  Jonathan  love  that 
existed  between  Miss  Mary  C.  Collins  and  Miss  J.  Em- 
maretta  Whipple.  They  were  immediately  sent  out  by 
the  Woman's  Board  of  the  Interior  to  labor  at  Bogue 
Station. 

This  place,  selected  in  1873,  had,  for  various  reasons, 
become  in  1874,  the  home  station — thenceforward  Hope 
was  only  an  out-station.  Bogue  Station  is  on  Peoria 
Bottom,  about  fifteen  miles  below  Fort  Sully,  and  on  the 
same  side  of  the  Missouri,  called  by  the  Indians,  "Tee- 
tanka-ohe,"  meaning,  "  The  place  of  a  large  house," 
so-called  from  a  house  built  years  ago  by  an  Indian.  Gen- 
eral Harney  selected  this  bottom  as  the  place  for  an 
Agency,  or  rather,  perhaps,  where  a  scheme  of  civilization 
should  be  tried,  and  built  upon  it  several  log  houses, 
which  became  the  dwellings  of  bellow  Hawk  and  his 
people.  The  bottom  has  several  advantages — consider- 
able cottonwood  timber,  plenty  of  grass  for  hay,  and  as 
good  land  for  cultivation  as  there  is  in  this  often  "  dry 
and  thirsty  land." 

The  first  winter  Oyemaza,  or  James  Redwing,  and  his 
wife,  lived  here  with  Henry  M.  Riggs,  and  taught  a  school. 
The  second  winter,  Thomas  and  Nina,  with  Miss  Bishop, 
made  it  their  abode.  So  that  it  was  not  quite  a  new  place 
to  which  Miss  Collins  and  Miss  Whipple  came,  and  yet 
new  enough.  The  mission  dwelling  is  made  of  logs — 


304  MARY  AND    I. 

one  series  of  logs  joined  to  another,  so  as  to  make  four 
rooms  below,  one  of  which  has  served  as  school-room 
through  the  week  and  a  chapel  for  the  Sabbath.  Ad- 
ditions have  been  made  in  the  rear.  The  school-room 
has,  for  a  long  time  back,  overflowed  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
the  women  and  children  have  been  packed  into  the  room 
adjoining,  which  is  the  family  room.  Hence  a  great  and 
growing  want  of  this  station  has  been  a  chapel  and  larger 
school  room.  The  name  of  Bogue  was  given  to  the  sta- 
tion for  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Bogue,  a  special  friend  of  Thomas, 
while  he  was  in  the  Seminary,  who  has  gone  to  her  rest. 
It  was,  at  one  time,  expected  that  Mr.  Bogue  would 
furnish  the  means  to  erect  a  chapel;  but  the  shrinkage 
in  values  and  financial  losses  made  him  a  broken  reed. 
And  so  the  desired  building  has  been  postponed  from 
year  to  year.  But  a  small  contribution  of  fourteen  cents, 
made  by  little  Bertie  Howard,  was  the  nucleus  around 
which  larger  contributions  gathered,  chiefly  from  Nina's 
native  Bangor.  About  $400  of  special  contributions  were 
thus  received,  and  the  Prudential  Committee  made  a  loan 
of  $500  toward  it.*  The  building  is  going  up — August, 
1877 — a  neat  and  substantial  frame,  the  material  of  which 
was  brought  up  from  Yankton  by  boat.  It  is  forty  by 
twenty  feet,  and  will  have  a  bell  tower  in  one  corner. 

Let  me  now  go  back  and  take  up  the  threads  of  the 
narrative  which  were  dropped  two  years  ago.  The  two 
young  ladies,  who  desired  to  work  together  in  some  Indian 
Held,  found  themselves  here  in  Yellow  Hawk's  village. 
They  entered  into  the  labors  of  those  who  had  been  here 
longer.  They  grew  into  the  work.  The  day  schools,  in 
books  and  sewing,  together  with  the  night  school,  em- 
ployed all  hands,  during  the  winter  especially.  A  number 

*This  was  afterward  made  a  gift. 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         305 

have  learned  to  read  and  write  in  their  own  language. 
Besides  the  school  carried  on  at  the  home  station,  the  two 
out  stations  have  been  occupied  by  native  helpers.  Edwin 
Phelps,  from  the  Sisseton  Agency,  with  his  mother,  Eliz- 
abeth Winyan,  have  been  valuable  assistants  for  two 
winters  past.  Also  for  the  winter  of  1876-  7,  David  Grey 
Cloud,  one  of  the  native  pastors  at  the  head  of  the  Coteau, 
did  valuable  service,  both  in  teaching  and  preaching. 
He  was  sent  to  Standing  Rock  by  the  native  Missionary 
Society,  but  not  being  able  to  get  a  footing  there,  he  came 
down  here  to  preach  to  these  Teetons  salvation  by  Jesus 
Christ.  In  the  spring,  when  he  was  leaving  for  Sisseton, 
they  begged  him  to  stay,  or  at  least  to  promise  to  come 
back  again. 

The  Word,  during  these  years,  has  not  been  preached 
in  vain.  While  in  the  main  it  has  been  seed  sowing — 
only  seed  sowing — breaking  up  the  wild  prairie  land  of 
these  wild  Dakota  hearts,  and  planting  a  seed  here  and 
there,  which  grows,  producing  some  good  fruit;  but  in 
most  cases,  not  yet  the  best  fruit  of  a  pure  and  holy  life. 
Still,  in  the  summer  of  1876,  one  young  man,  the  first 
fruits  among  the  Teetons,  David  Lee  (Upijate)  by  name, 
came  out  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus.  This  was  the  signal  for 
the  organization  of  a  church  at  this  station,  which  was 
effected  in  August.  Another  native  convert,  the  brother 
of  the  first,  was  added  in  the  autumn  following;  and  still 
more  a  year  or  so  afterward. 

For  two  winters  past,  several  boys  and  young  men,  who 
have  made  a  good  commencement  in  education  in  these 
schools,  have  been  sent  down  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of 
A.L.  Riggs'  High  School,  at  Santee.  The  Sioux  war  of  the 
summer  of  1876  produced  a  great  excitement  at  all  the 

Agencies  on  the  Upper  Missouri.     The  Indians  in  these 
6      20 


306  MARY    AND    I. 

villages  were  more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  the 
hostiies.  Many  of  those  accustomed  to  receive  rations  here 
were  during  the  summer,  out  on  the  plains.  Some  of  them 
were  in  the  Ouster  fight.  They  say  that  Sitting  Bull's 
camp  was  not  large — only  about  two  hundred  lodges. 
The  victory  they  gained  was  not,  as  the  whites  claimed, 
owing  to  the  overwhelming  numbers  of  the  Dakotas,  but 
to  the  exhausted  condition  of  Ouster's  men  and  horses, 
and  to  their  adventuring  themselves  into  a  gorge,  where 
they  could  easily  be  cut  off. 

When  the  autumn  came,  the  victories  of  the  Sioux  had 
been  turned  into  a  general  defeat.  Many  of  them,  as 
they  claim,  had  been  opposed  to  the  war  all  along.  The 
attacks,  they  say,  were  all  made  by  the  white  soldiers- 
They — these  Dakota  men — were  anxious  to  have  peace, 
and  used  all  their  influence  to  abate  the  war  spirit  among 
the  more  excited  young  men.  This  made  it  possible  for 
the  military  to  carry  out  the  order  to  dismount  and  disarm 
the  Sioux.  But  in  doing  this  all  were  treated  alike  as 
foes.  Such  men  as  Long  Mandan  complain  bitterly  of 
this  injustice.  From  him  and  his  connections  the  mil- 
itary took  sixty-two  horses.  He  cannot  see  the  righteous- 
ness of  it. 

As  a  matter  of  course  this  excited  state  of  the  com- 
munity was  unfavorable,  in  some  respects,  to  missionary 
work  during  the  winter.  The  military  control  attempted  to 
interfere  with  the  sending  away  of  Teeton  young  men  to  the 
Santee  school.  But  on  the  whole  no  year  of  work  has 
proved  more  profitable.  In  all  the  schools,  Thomas  re- 
ported about  two  hundred  and  forty  scholars.  They  were 
necessarily  irregular  in  attendance,  as  they  were  frequently 
ordered  up  to  the  Agency  to  be  counted.  Still  the  willing 
hearts  and  hands  had  work  to  do  all  the  time.  And  so  the 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  307 

spring  of  1877  came,  when  the  women  folks  of  Bogue  Sta- 
tion had  all  planned  to  have  a  little  rest.  Mrs.  Nina  Rig-gs 
was  to  go  as  far  as  Chicago  to  meet  her  father  and  mother, 
from  Bangor.  Miss  Collins  and  Miss  Whipple  were  going 
to  visit  their  friends  in  Iowa  and  Wisconsin.  And  so  they 
all  prepared  for  the  journey,  and  waited  for  a  boat.  By 
some  mischance  boats  slid  by  them.  They  put  their  tent- 
on  the  river  bank  and  waited.  So  a  whole  month  had 
passed,  when,  at  last,  their  patient  waiting  was  rewarded, 
and  they  passed  down  the  Missouri  River  and  on  to 
Chicago. 

The  ladies  of  the  Woman's  Board  of  the  Interior  had 
arranged  to  have  them  present  and  take  an  active  part  in 
several  public  meetings  in  and  around  Chicago.  This 
was  unwise  for  the  toilers  among  the  Dakotas.  The  ex- 
citement of  waiting  and  travel — the  summer  season — the 
strain  on  the  nervous  system,  incident  to  speaking  in 
public  to  those  unaccustomed  to  it — all  these  were  unfa- 
vorable to  the  rest  they  needed.  We  must  not  quarrel 
with  the  Lord's  plan,  but  we  may  object  to  the  human 
unwisdom.  So  it  was;  before  Miss  Whipple  had  visited 
her  friends  she  was  stricken  down  with  fever.  Loving 
hearts  and  willing  hands  could  not  stay  its  progress.  It 
is  said,  and  we  do  not  doubt  it,  that  all  was  done  for  her 
recovery  that  kind  and  anxious  friends  could  do.  Miss 
Collins,  her  special  friend,  did  not  leave  her.  Delirium 
came  on,  and  she  was  "  Waiting  for  the  Boat"  It  was 
not  now  a  Missouri  steamer,  but  the  boat  that  angels 
bring  across  from  the  Land  of  Life.  She  saw  it  coming. 
"  The  boat  has  come,  and  I  must  step  in,"  she  said:  And 
so  she  did,  and  passed  over  to  the  farther  shore  of  the 
river. 

The  Teetons  say,  "  Two  young  women  went  away,  and 


308  MARY    AND    I. 

one  of  them  is  not  coming  back.  They  say  she  has  gone 
to  the  land  of  spirits.  It  has  been  so  before.  Miss 
Bishop  went  away,  and  we  did  not  see  her  again.  And 
now  we  shall  not  see  Miss  Whipple  any  more."  So  they 
mourn  with  us.  But  while  the  workers  fall,  their  work 
will  not  fail.  It  is  the  work  for  which  Christ  came  from 
the  bosom  of  the  Father;  and  as  He  lives  now,  so  "shall 
He  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul,  and  shall  be  satisfied." 

Dear  Miss  Whipple's  death  came  upon  us  like  a  thun- 
der-clap. We  are  dumb,  because  the  Lord  has  done  it. 
Nevertheless,  it  has  made  our  hearts  very  sad,  and  inter- 
fered with  our  plans  of  work.  But  we  can  say,  "  Not  in 
our  way,  but  in  Thy  way,  shall  the  work  be  done."  A 
fitting  tribute  from  Mrs.  Nina  Riggs  will  be  found  very 
interesting. 

"  Miss  J.  E.  Whipple  died  of  gastric  fever  at  Chicago, 
August  llth,  aged  24.  For  nearly  two  years  she  had 
been  connected  with  the  Dakota  Mission  among  the  Tee- 
ton  Indians.  And  she  left  her  work  there  last  spring,  in 
order  to  take  a  short  vacation  and  visit  among  her  friends. 
On  her  way  from  her  sister's  home  in  Knoxville,  Illinois, 
to  the  home  of  her  father,  at  Badger,  Wisconsin,  she  was 
attacked  by  the  disease  which  proved  fatal.  Through 
all  her  sickness  to  the  end  she  was  tenderly  and  lovingly 
cared  for  by  Miss  Mary  Collins,  her  intimate  friend  and 
companion  in  missionary  labor.  In  the  summer  of  1875, 
Miss  Whipple  gave  herself  to  the  cause  of  missions,  and 
entered  upon  her  work  in  the  autumn  of  that  same  year. 
She  had  little  idea  of  what  she  should  be  called  to  do,  but 
self-consecration  was  the  beginning  of  all,  and  so  what- 
ever work  was  given  her  to  do  she  took  it  up  cheerfully 
and  earnestly,  yielding  time  and  strength  and  zeal  to  it. 
Though  it  seemed  small  she  did  not  scorn  it,  though  re- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.          309 

pugnant  she  did  not  shirk  it,  though  hard  she  bravely 
bore  it.  Her  merry  smile,  her  thoughtful  mind,  her  quick 
response,  the  work  of  her  strong,  shapely  hands,  all 
blessed  our  mission  home.  She  came  a  stranger  to  us, 
but  when  she  left  us  in  the  spring,  only  for  a  summer's 
vacation  as  we  thought,  she  was  our  true  and  well-beloved 
friend. 

"  They  tell  me  she  is  dead!  When  the  word  reached  us, 
already  was  the  dear  form  laid  away  by  loving  hands  to 
its  last  rest. 

"  Dead!  The  house  is  full  of  her  presence,  the  work  of 
her  hands  is  about  us,  the  echo  of  her  voice  is  in  our 
morning  and  vesper  hymns,  the  women  and  children 
whom  she  taught  to  sew  and  knit,  and  the  men  whom  she 
taught  to  read  and  write,  gather  about  the  doorway. 
Even  now  beneath  the  workman's  hammer  is  rising  the 
chapel,  for  which  she  hoped  and  prayed  and  labored. 

"Dead?  No!  The  power  of  her  strong,  young  life  is 
still  making  itself  felt,  though  the  bodily  presence  is  re- 
moved from  us,  nor  can  that  power  cease  so  long  as  the 
work  she  loved  is  a  living  work. 

"  c  The  children  all  about  are  sad,'  said  an  Indian  wo- 
man. '  I  too  am  sorrowful.  I  wanted  to  see  her  again.' 
The  little  Theodore  whom  she  had  loved  and  tended, 
folded  his  hands  and  prayed,  'Bless  Miss  Emmie  up  in 
heaven, — she  was  sick  and  died  and  went  to  heaven, — 
and  bring  her  back  some  time.'  Sweet,  childish  prayer 
that  would  fain  reach  out  with  benediction  to  her  who  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  our  blessing,  eternally  blest. 

"As  she  passed  away  from  the  fond,  enfolding  arms  that 
would  have  detained  her,  she  breathed  a  message  for  us 
all.  Listen!  Do  you  not  hear  her  speaking?  'Work 


310  MARY    AND    I. 

for  the  missions,  work  for  the  missions.     Christ  died  for 

the  missions.' 

"On  the  wall  of  her  room  still  hangs  the  Scripture  roll 

as  it  was  left.     And  this  is  the  word  of  comfort  it  bears: 
" ;  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness.' 
"  '  His  servants  shall  serve  Him  and  they  shall  see  his 

face.' " 

THE    DAKOTA    CONFERENCE. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  churches,  con- 
nected with  the  Dakota  Mission,  took  place  at  T.  L. 
Riggs'  Station  on  Peoria  Bottom,  near  Fort  Sully,  com- 
mencing on  Thursday,  September  13,  1877,  and  closing 
on  Sabbath,  the  16th. 

The  very  neat  new  chapel,  which  had  been  in  building 
only  a  few  weeks,  was  pushed  forward  so  that  it  made  a 
very  convenient  and  comfortable  place  of  meeting.  The 
Sabbath  immediately  preceding,  it  was  occupied  for  reli- 
gious service.  It  was  very  gratifying  to  see  the  house 
filled  by  the  Indians  living  here.  In  the  general  interest 
manifested  in  religious  instructions,  by  the  people  of 
these  villages,  there  is  very  much  to  encourage  us.  Old 
men  and  women,  young  men  and  maidens,  flock  to  the 
new  chapel,  and  express  great  gratification  that  it  has. 
been  erected  for  their  benefit. 

On  Wednesday,  the  12th  of  the  month,  the  delegates 
began  to  come  in.  The  first  to  arrive  were  from  the 
homestead  settlement  of  Flandreau  on  the  Big  Sioux. 
They  had  come  260  miles  and  traveled  ten  days.  Then 
came  the  delegation  of  more  than  twenty  from  the  Sis- 
seton  Reservation,  near  Fort  Wads  worth.  And  in  the 
evening  came  the  largest  company  from  the  Yankton  and 
Santee  Agencies.  In  all  there  were  over  sixty  present, 
about  forty-five  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Confer- 


FORTY  YEARS  WITH  THE  SIOUX.         311 

ence,  and  all  had  traveled  more  than  200  miles  The 
last  to  arrive  were  John  P.  Williamson  and  A.  L.  Riggs, 
who,  being  disappointed  in  getting  a  steamboat,  had  to 
come  all  the  way  in  the  stage. 

Our  meeting  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  young- 
est of  our  Dakota  pastors,  Rev.  John  Eastman,  of  Flan- 
dreau.  This  was  followed  by  greetings  from  T.  L.  Riggs 
and  Mr.  Yellow  Hawk  and  Mr.  Spotted  Bear.  Responses 
by  S.  R.  Riggs,  and  pastors  Artemas,  John  Renville, 
Daniel  Renville,  Solomon,  David,  Louis,  and  Joseph 
Blacksmith,  followed  by  A.  L.  Riggs  and  John  P.  Wil- 
liamson, who  had  just  arrived.  The  meeting  was  very 
enjoyable  and  was  followed  by  the  organization.  T.  L. 
Riggs  and  David  Grey  Cloud  were  the  English  and  Da- 
kota secretaries,  the  only  officers  of  the  Conference.  The 
roll  contained  fifty  names,  a  number  less  than  we  have 
had  present  in  years  past,  but  quite  large,  considering 
the  distance  of  the  place  from  our  churches,  and  the 
pressure  of  home  work. 

Friday,  after  a  morning  prayer  meeting,  at  which  the 
house  appeared  to  be  full,  the  Conference  was  opened 
with  so  large  a  gathering  that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
pack  the  house,  when  about  two  hundred  were  crowded 
in.  As  yet  only  a  few  of  these  Teetons  have  changed 
their  dress,  but  they  sit  for  three  hours,  and  listen  very 
attentively  to  discussions  on  the  questions  of  "  How  to 
Study  the  Bible,"  and  "Who  shall  be  Received  to 
Church  Membership?"  To  the  Teetons  it  was* all  new, 
but  the  native  pastors  endeavored  to  put  their  thoughts 
into  such  forms  as  to  reach  their  understandings.  Chap- 
lain G.  D.  Crocker,  of  Sully,  was  present  with  his  family, 
and  added  to  the  interest.  On  Saturday,  Dr.  Cravens, 
agent  at  Cheyenne,  with  his  wife,  made  us  a  visit. 


312  MARY   AND    I. 

The  Homestead  question  occupied  us  for  a  whole  after- 
noon, and  was  one  which  attracted  the  most  attention,  as 
these  Teetons,  even,  are  greatly  exercised  to  know  how 
they  shall  secure  a  permanent  habitation.  Daniel  Ren- 
ville,  Joseph  Blacksmith,  and  Esau  Iron  Frenchman,  all 
homesteaders,  made  eloquent  appeals  in  favor  of  Indians 
becoming  white  men.  But  their  stories  of  hard  times 
showed  that  it  had  been  no  child's  play  with  them. 

The  report  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  native 
Missionary  Society  was  read  by  A.  L.  Riggs,  and  David 
Grey  Cloud  gave  an  interesting  account  of  his  last 
winter's  work  on  the  Missouri.  Speeches  were  made  by 
John  B.  Renville,  Joseph  Blacksmith,  S.  R.  Riggs,  and 
John  P.  Williamsdn.  By  vote  of  the  Conference  the 
same  committee  was  re-elected  for  another  year — A.  L. 
Riggs,  Joseph  Blacksmith,  and  John  B.  Renville.  The 
money  now  in  the  treasury  is  about  $160,  besides  certain 
articles  contributed  and  not  yet  sold.  The  committee 
expect  to  engage  the  services  of  one  of  the  pastors  for 
the  coming  winter. 

Another  question  discussed  was  "Household  Duties;" 
when  the  Divine  constitution  of  the  family  was  made  to 
bear  against  polygamy.  This  subject  bore  heavily  upon 
the  principal  men  of  these  villages,  who  were  present 
and  heard  it  all.  It  will  doubtless  cause  some  searchings 
of  heart,  which  we  hope  will  result  in  changed  lives. 

On  Saturday  afternoon  a  woman's  meeting  was  held, 
which  was  peculiarly  interesting  in  consequence  of  Miss 
Whipple's  unexpected  translation.  She  has  worked  her- 
self very  much  into  the  hearts  of  these  Teeton  women. 

Our  whole  meeting  was  closed  by  the  services  of  the 
Sabbath.  John  P.  Williamson  preached  an  impressive 
sermon  in  Dakota;  John  Eastman  led  in  the  service  of 


FORTY    YEARS    WITH    THE    SIOUX.  313 

song  at  the  organ;  two  of  the  native  pastors  administered 
the  Supper  of  our  Lord;  Grey-haired  Bear  and  Estelle 
Duprey  were  united  in  marriage;  C.  H.  Howard,  of  "  The 
Advance,"  made  a  good  talk  to  the  Dakotas  on  Christian 
work  through  the  Holy  Spirit's  help,  and  led  in  an  English 
Bible  reading;  and  finally,  John  B.  Renville  gave  us  a 
wonderful  series  of  pictures  on  the  "  Glory  of  Heaven  " — 
what  man's  eye  hath  not  seen — man's  ear  hath  not  heard 
— and  man's  heart  hath  not  conceived.  We  shall  long 
remember  the  meeting  at  Peoria  Bottom,  and  we  shall 
expect  to  see  results  in  the  progress  of  truth  in  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  these  Teetons. 

The  Forty  Years  are  completed.  In  the  meantime 
many  workers  have  fallen  out  of  the  ranks,  but  the  work 
has  gone  on.  It  has  been  marvelous  in  our  eyes.  At  the 
beginning,  we  were  surrounded  by  the  whole  Sioux  na- 
tion, in  their  ignorance  and  barbarism.  At  the  close,  we 
are  surrounded  by  churches  with  native  pastors.  Quite  a 
section  of  the  Sioux  nation  has  become,  in  the  main, 
civilized  and  Christianized.  The  entire  Bible  has  been 
translated  into  the  language  of  the  Dakotas.  The  work 
of  education  has  been  rapidly  progressing.  The  Episco- 
palians, entering  the  field  many  years  after  we  did,  have 
nevertheless,  with  more  men  and  more  means  at  their 
command,  gone  beyond  us  in  the  occupation  of  the  wilder 
portions.  Their  work  has  enlarged  into  the  bishopric  of 
Niobrara,  which  is  admirably  filled  by  Bishop  Hare. 
Thus  God  has  been  showing  us,  by  His  providence  and 
His  grace,  that  the  RED  MEX,  too,  may  come  into  the 
KINGDOM. 


APPENDIX. 


MONOGRAPHS. 


MRS.  NINA  FOSTER  RIGGS;    REV.  GIDEON  H.  POND; 
SOLOMON;  DR.  T.  S.  WILLIAMSON; 
THE  FAMILY  REUNION; 
AND  OTHERS. 


ERRATA. 

Page  36,  the  word  guttural  misspelled. 
Page  227,  Frances  spelled  FRANCIS. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  317 


MRS.  NINA  FOSTER  RIGGS. 


A   MONOGRAPH. 

CORNELIA  MARGARET,  daughter  of  HON.  JOHN  B.  FOSTER  and 
CATHARINE  MC&AW  FOSTER,  was  born  in  Bangor,  Maine,  March 
19, 1848.  Very  soon  after  she  left  us,  on  August  5,  1878,  there 
appeared  appreciative  testimonials  of  her  life  and  character,  in 
the  ADVANCE,  in  the  IAPI  OAYE,  and  in  LIFE  AND  LIGHT.  In 
preparing  this  MONOGRAPH,  the  writer  will  make  free  use  of  all 
these  materials. 

REV.  R  B  HOWARD,  while  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Bangor,  knew  her  as  Nina  Foster,  "a  golden-haired,  fair-cheeked( 
gracefully-formed  little  Sabbath-school  scholar  of  ten,  at  the  Cen- 
tral Church.  Her  quick,  laughing  eye,  her  sensitive  face  reflect- 
ing every  changing  thought,  her  constant  companionship  of  an 
only  sister  a  little  taller,  her  ready  answers  to  all  Sabbath-school 
questions,  her  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  sermons,  and  her 
sunshiny  presence  at  school  and  at  home,  were  among  the  im- 
pressions which  her  childhood  gave. 

"  She  lacked  no  means  of  cultivating  the  rare  powers  of  mind 
which  she  early  developed.  Many  things  she  seemed  to  learn  in- 
tuitively. Her  scholarship  was  bright,  quick,  accurate.  Litera- 
ture was  her  delight.  Her  mother's  father,  Judge  McGaw,  whose 
white  locks  and  venerable  presence  then  honored  Bangor,  was  an 
interested  and  judicious  guide  in  the  home  reading. 

"  In  social  life  few  shone  more  brilliantly,  or  were  more  ad- 
mired and  sought  after.  In  those  days,  the  beauty  of  person 
of  the  young  lady  was  of  a  rare  and  noticeable  type.  Her 
conversational  powers  were  fascinating.  She  had  by  nature  gen- 
uine histrionic  talent,  and  in  conversation,  reading  or  reciting, 
seemed  to  be  completely  the  person  she  sought  to  represent.  On 


318  MRS.    NINA    FOSTER    RIGGS. 

one  occasion,  by  a  slight  change  of  dress,  voice  and  manner,  she 
appeared  as  an  aged  widow,  pleading  with  a  high  officer  of  the 
Government  at  Washington,  to  help  her  find  her  son,  lost  in  the 
troublous  times  of  the  war." 

The  "  only  sister  a  little  taller,"  MRS.  KATIE  FOSTER  HOWARD, 
thus  testifies  of  Nina's  early  life : 

"  When  a  little  child,  from  eight  to  twelve  years  old,  she  and 
some  of  her  companions  formed  '  a  praying  circle,'  and  had  a  lit- 
tle room  in  one  of  their  homes,  which  they  called  THE  HOUSE  OF 
PRAYER.  They  met  often  in  this  room  and  delighted  to  decorate 
it  after  their  childish  fashion. 

.  "  Another  favorite  occupation  was  the  teaching  some  poor  chil- 
dren whom  she  and  one  or  two  friends  brought  out  of  their  dreary 
homes  to  the  church  vestibule  and  there  taught  to  sew  and  read. 

"  When  eleven  years  old  she  was  examined  by  the  pastor  and 
church  officers  for  admission  to  the  church ;  they  asked  her  how 
long  she  had  loved  Jesus — and  she  answered,  '  Oh,  a  great  many 
years.' " 

Mrs.  Howard  speaks  of  her  sister  as  "  the  little  girl  in  the  East- 
ern home,  whose  spirituelle  face,  with  its  halo  of  golden  hair, 
seemed  so  much  more  of  heaven  than  of  earth,  as  to  cause  the  fre- 
quent, anxious  comment,  that  this  world  could  not  long  detain  her. 
An  active,  happy  child  among  her  playmates,  her  thoughts  were 
often  upon  heavenly  things,  and  her  desire  was  to  turn  theirs 
thitherward,  yet  without  anything  morbid  or  unchildlike  in  her 
ways. 

"  As  she  grew  to  womanhood,  she  was  the  delight  of  tlie  home 
which  so  tenderly  shielded  her  from  every  rude  blast,  and  of  a 
large  circle  of  attached  friends.  She  possessed  those  charms  of 
person  and  manners  and  qualities  of  mind  which  won  admira- 
tion, and  peculiarly  fitted  her  to  enjoy  and  adorn  society.  So 
when  the  time  came  for  her  to  change  this  for  a  secluded  life, 
many  regretted  that  the  fine  gold  should  be  sent  where  baser 
metal,  as  they  thought,  would  do  as  well ;  that  the  noble  woman, 
so  eminently  fitted  for  usefulness  in  circles  of  refinement,  should 
spend  her  life  among  the  degraded  and  unappreciative  savages. 
But  the  event  has  proved  that  only  such  a  nature,  abounding  in 
resources,  could  be  the  animating  spirit  of  a  model  home  in  the 
wilderness,  which  should  be  an  object  lesson  of  Christian  culture, 


A    MONOGRAPH.  319 

not  only  to  the  Indian,  but  to  the  Army  people,  who  were  her  only 
white  neighbors,  and  who,  for  her  sake,  could  look  with  interest 
on  a  work  too  often  an  object  of  contempt.  And  thus  the  reflex 
influence  upon  those  who  missed  her  from  their  number,  or  met 
her  as  she  journeyed  to  her  field  of  labor,  has  been  in  proportion 
to  the  grace  of  her  refinement,  and  the  depth  and  breadth  of  her 
character.  God,  who  spared  not  His  own  Son,  still  gives  his 
choicest  ones  to  the  salvation  of  men." 

While  on  a  visit  to  Chicago  in  the  family  of  her  sister,  she  first 
became  acquainted  with  Thomas  L.  Riggs,  then  a  student  in  the 
Theological  Seminary.  Their  mutual  love  soon  compelled  her 
to  consider  what  it  would  be  to  share  in  his  life-work.  She  recr 
ognized  its  hardships  and  deprivations,  as  could  hardly  have 
been  expected  in  one  so  inexperienced  in  life's  trials.  She  after- 
ward often  playfully  said  she  was  "  not  a  missionary — only  a 
missionary's  wife."  But  it  was  a  double  consecration,  joyous 
and  entire,  to  the  life  of  wife  and  missionary. 

THOMAS  and  NINA  were  married  at  her  home  in  Bangor,  Dec. 
26, 1872.  It  is  said,  "  Christian  people,  and  even  Christian  min- 
isters were  inclined  to  say,  4  Why  this  waste  ? '  Some  did  say  it. 
Some  spoke  in  bitter  and  almost  angry  condemnation  of  her 
course.  That  this  beautiful  and  accomplished  girl,  eminently 
fitted  to  adorn  any  society,  should  devote  herself  to  a  missionary 
life,  occasioned  much  comment  in  the  social  circle  in  which  she 
had  been  prominent.  What  could  she  do  for  the  coarse,  degraded 
Indian  women,  that  might  not  be  better  done  by  a  less  refined, 
sensitive  and  elevated  nature  ?  Why  shut  up  her  beauty  and 
talents  in  the  log  cabin  of  an  Indian  missionary  ?  It  was  a  shock 
to  some  who  had  preached  self-sacrifice,  and  a  painful  surprise  to 
many  who  had  been  praying  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  la- 
borers. But  none  of  these  things  moved  her.  There  has  seldom 
been  a  sweeter  and  more  lovely  bride.  The  parents,  too,  made 
the  consecration,  while  they  wrestled  in  spirit.  The  father 
writes :  "  I  gave  her  up  when  she  left  us  on  that  winter's  night. 
It  was  a  hard  struggle,  but  I  think  I  gave  her  unconditionally  to 
God,  to  whom  she  so  cheerfully  gave  herself." 

At  this  season  of  the  year,  it  was  not  possible  for  Nina  to  ac- 
company her  husband  to  Fort  Sully,  and  so  he  left  her  at  Gen. 
C.  H.  Howard's,  near  Chicago,  to  come  on  in  the  early  spring. 


320  MRS.    NINA    POSTER    RIGG8. 

This  was  my  first  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with 
"  Mitakosh  "Washta,"  as  I  soon  learned  to  call  her..  Gen.  How- 
ard accompanied  her  to  Sioux  City,  and  then  I  became  her  escort 
by  railroad  and  stage  to  Santee  Agency,  and  thence  by  steamboat 
to  Sully.  The  boat  was  nearly  two  weeks  on  the  way,  and  we  took 
on  two  companies  of  United  States  troops  at  Ft.  Randall.  The 
officers  soon  manifested  a  marked  admiration  for  the  beauty  and 
culture  of  the  Bangor  lady,  so  that  afterward,  in  alluding  to  this 
little  episode,  I  used  playfully  to  say  to  Nina,  that  I  was  rejoiced 
when  Thomas,  coming  down  the  Missouri  in  his  skiff,  met  us, 
and  took  charge  of  his  bride. 

We  had  but  a  few  weeks  to  spend  at  Fort  Sully,  until  we 
should  start  down  to  the  meeting  of  our  Annual  Conference, 
which  was  held  in  June  that  year,  at  the  Yankton  Agency.  But 
those  weeks  were  full  of  pleasure  to  Nina.  Everything  was  new 
and  strange.  She  was  devoid  of  fear,  when  she  sat  in  the  iron 
skiff,  and  crossed  the  Big  Muddy  with  her  husband  at  the  helm. 
The  time  came  to  go  down.  It  was  nearly  noon  on  Monday  when 
we  were  ready  to  start,  but,  by  hard  driving,  we  were  able  to 
reach  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson's— more  than  200  miles — by  the 
afternoon  of  Thursday.  Secretary  S.  J.  Humphrey,  from  Chicago, 
was  there,  and  afterward  wrote,  that  for  T.  L.  Riggs  and  the 
father,  who  were  accustomed  to  hard  traveling  and  sleeping  on 
the  ground,  it  was  nothing  very  strange ;  but  for  one  reared  as 
Nina  had  been,  it  was  simply  wonderful. 

This  was  the  first  meeting  of  Martha  Riggs  Morris  with  her  new 
sister.  When  the  latter  had  gone  beyond  our  ken,  Martha  wrote  an 
appreciative  article  for  the  "  Word  Carrier  " :  "  Let  me  give  some- 
thing," she  wrote,  "  of  the  little  glimpses  I  have  had  of  her  brave^ 
cheery  life.  I  may  first  go  back  to  the  time  when  we  first  heard 
of  Nina  Foster — who  thought  enough  of  T.  L.  Riggs  and  the  In- 
dian work,  to  help  him  in  it.  That  was  in  the  spring  time.  A 
few  months  later,  Thomas  had  a  hard  ride  across  from  Fort  Sully 
to  Sisseton,  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  a  soldier  for  guard, 
and  an  Indian  for  guide.  He  came  to  attend  the  Annual  Con- 
ference of  the  Dakota  churches,  and  he  showed  us  a  picture  of 
the  young  lady  herself.  A  beautiful  face  we  all  thought  it 
was.  And  from  what  we  heard  of  Nina  Foster,  we  were  all  pre- 


A   MONOGRAPH.  321 

pared  to  take  her  into  our  hearts,  as  we  did  when  we  saw  her 
afterward. 

"  It  Was  in  June  of  the  year  following  that  I  had  my  first 
glimpse  of  her.  I  had  myself  taken  a  tedious  journey  of  some 
three  hundred  miles,  and  the  years  as  well  as  the  journey  had 
worn  upon  me.  So  I  felt  some  trepidation  about  meeting  the 
blooming  bride.  But  on  seeing  her,  that  soon  vanished,  and  I  had 
nothing  left  but  admiration  for  the  beautiful  sister.  She  told  so 
merrily  how  they  had  strapped  her  in,  to  keep  her  from  falling 
out  of  the  wagon,  and  other  incidents  of  her  unaccustomed  jour- 
ney. There  was  an  evident  determination  to  make  the  best  of 
every  experience." 

A  little  while  after  this  Mrs.  Morris  was  called  to  lay  away  her 
blue-eyed  boy  out  of  sight.  Then  Nina's  letter  was  very  com- 
forting. "  I  have  wept,"  she  says,  "  with  you  for  the  dear  little 
baby  form  laid  away  from  your  arms  to  its  last  sleep ;  and  I  think 
of  your  words, '  Nothing  to  do  any  more.'  Ah !  my  dear  sister, 
He  will  not  so  leave  you  comfortless.  He,  who  forgot  not  in  the 
last  hours  of  his  earthly  life,  to  give  to  the  aching  mother-heart  a 
new  care  and  love,  will  not  forget,  I  think,  to  bestow  on  your 
emptied  hands  some  new  duty  which  shall  grow  to  be  a  joy." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Board  at  Minneapolis  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1873,  Mrs.  Nina  Riggs  was  present,  and  addressed  the  ladies 
of  the  Woman's  Board,  asking  for  a  young  lady  companion  in  her 
far-off  field.  To  this  call  Miss  Lizzie  Bishop,  of  Northfield,  re- 
'  sponded,  and  gave  the  remainder  of  her  bright,  true  life,  to  help 
on  the  work  at  Fort  Sully.  Nina  visited  her  sister  in  Chicago,  and 
charmed  them  all  by  reciting  her  strange  experiences  of  the  sum- 
mer. "  Her  buoyant  spirits  and  faculty  for  seeing  the  droll  side  of 
everything,  helped  to  make  the  sketch  a  bright  one.  Her  sense  of 
humor  and  keen  wit  has  lightened  many  a  load  for  herself  and 
others;  the  more  forlorn  and  hopeless  the  situation,  the  more 
elastic  her  spirits.  How  often  have  those  of  her  own  household, 
wearied  with  severe  labor  and  weighed  down  with  care,  been  com- 
pelled to  laugh,  almost  against  their  will,  by  her  irresistible  droll- 
ery, and  thu's  the  current  of  thought  was  turned,  and  the  burden 
half  thrown  aside." 

In  the  summer  of  1874,  baby  Theodore  was  born,  and  none  from 

Fort  Sully  came  to  our  annual  meeting.    On  my  way  from  a  visit 
2 1 


322  MRS.    NINA   FOSTER    RIGGS. 

to  Fort  Bertkold,  down  the  Missouri  River,  I  stopped  off  for  a  few 
days.  They  were  then  occupying  Hope  Station,  across  the  river 
from  the  Fort.  Both  Miss  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Nina  Riggs  I  found 
very  enthusiastic  over  their  work  for  the  Teeton  women. 

When  another  year  had  been  completed,  Lizzie  Bishop  had 
gone  home  to  die,  and  Nina  Riggs  made  a  visit  to  her  friends  in 
the  East.  The  Board  met  in  Chicago  that  autumn,  and  Mrs. 
Riggs  again  addressed  the  ladies.  "  Two  years  ago,"  she  said,"  at 
a  meeting  in  Minneapolis,  I  made  a  request  which  was  promptly 
answered.  I  asked  for  a  young  lady  to  go  back  with  me  to  the 
mission  work.  I  find  her  name  is  not  on  the  rolls.  But  if  ever 
a  brave  life  should  be  recorded,  and  the  name  of  an  earnest  wo- 
man be  loved  and  remembered  by  all,  it  is  that  of  Miss  Lizzie 
Bishop,  of  Northfield,  Minnesota.  We  had  hoped  that  she  might 
return,  but  the  Lord  has  not  seen  fit  to  allow  that.  He  calls  her 
to  himself  soon.  For  the  past  two  years  I  have  been  at  different 
stations.  I  was  at  Hope  Station,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Missouri- 
Now  I  am  at  Bogue  Station,  fifteen  miles  below  Fort  Sully,  on  the 
east  side.  Since  I  have  been  there  I  have  met  a  great  many 
women.  At  first  they  all  seemed  to  me  very  degraded ;  but  I  have 
come  not  only  to  feel  interested  in  many  of  them,  but  to  love 
some  of  them  with  a  very  deep  love."  So  spake  Nina;  and  when 
she  sat  down  a  telegram  was  read,  that  the  good  and  brave  Lizzie 
Bishop  had  already  entered  in  through  the  gates  of  pearl,  into 
"Jerusalem  the  golden." 

Two  others,  Miss  Mary  C.  Collins  and  Miss  Emmarette  Whip, 
pie,  were  ready  to  start  back  with  Mrs.  Riggs.  So  the  vacant 
place  was  more  than  filled,  and  they  all  girded  themselves  for  a 
hard  winter's  work. 

A  little  before  this  time  Nina  sent  to  the  "  Word  Carrier"  a 
short  bit  of  poetry,  which  seems  to  embody  her  own  wrestling 
with  doubt  in  others.  The  last  stanza  reads : 

"  With  daring  heart,  I  too  have  tried 

To  know  the  height  and  depth  of  God  above ; 
And  can  I  wonder  that  I,  too,  walked  blind, 

And  felt  stern  Justice  in  the  place  of  love  ? 
Above  the  child,  the  eun  shines  on ; 

Above  me,  too,  one  reigns  I  cannot  see; 
Yet  all  around  I  feel  both  warmth  and  power; 
If  God  is  not,  whence  can  their  coming  be?" 

In  September,  1876,  the  great  gathering  of  the  Dakota  mission 


A   MONOGRAPH.  323 

•was  held  in  the  new  Ascension  church,  on  the  Sisseton  Reserva- 
tion. Mrs.  Morris  writes  :  "  We  looked  out  eagerly  for  the  trav- 
elers from  Fort  Sully  way.  We  hoped  they  would  come  a  few 
days  beforehand,  so  that  we  might  have  more  of  their  companion- 
ship. But  they  did  not  come.  And  as  we  had  to  be  on  hand  in 
the  Ascension  neighborhood,  ten  miles  away,  to  entertain  the 
missionaries  that  might  come,  we  shut  up  our  house,  and  went  on 
without  the  Fort  Sully  friends.  It  was  Friday  noon  when  they 
arrived,  and  received  a  glad  welcome  from  all." 

Thomas  and  Nina  and  their  little  lad  Theodore,  now  two  years 
old,  who  amused  every  one  with  his  quaint  sayings,  together 
with  Miss  Collins  and  Miss  Whipple,  with  all  their  personal  and 
camping  baggage,  had  been  packed  for  eight  days  into  a  small 
two-horse  buggy.  Tks  journey  of  250  miles,  the  way  they  trav- 
eled, over  a  country  uninhabited,  was  not  without  its  romance. 
"Not  the  least  of  the  enjoyment  of  this  'feast  of  days,'  were  the 
bits  of  talk  sandwiched  in  here  and  there,  between  meetings,  and 
ca?ing  for  the  children  and  providing  for  the  guests.  As  we 
baked  the  bread  and  watched  over  the  two  cousins,  Theodore  and 
Mary  Theodora,  so  nearly  of  an  age,  we  had  many  a  pleasant  chat 
— Nina  and  I.  She  gave  me  an  insight  into  their  happy  home  life, 
and  I  longed  to  know  more.  She  told,tco,  of  her  special  work  in 
visiting  the  homes  of  the  Teetons,  and  prescribing  for  the  sick. 
At  the  special  meeting  held  for  the  women,  Nina  made  a  few  re- 
marks, winning  all  hearts  by  her  grace  of  manners,  as  well  as  by 
her  lovely  face.  Now  that  she  is  gone  ihe  Dakota  women  speak 
of  her  as  '  the  beautiful  woman  who  spoke  so  well.'  " 

"To  all  who  come,  I  wish  my  home  to  seem  a  pleasant  home,''' 
is  a  remark  which  Miss  Collins  accredits  to  Nina.  So  indeed  w# 
found  it  in  the  months  of  August  and  September,  of  1877.  The 
dear  Miss  Whipple  had  just  stepped  into  the  boat  at  Chicago, 
which  carried  her  to  the  farther  shore.  Miss  Collins  was  mourn, 
ing  over  her  departed  comrade  while  making  out  the  visit  to  her 
friends.  By  appointment,  I  met,  on  the  way,  Gen.  Charles  H- 
Howard,  of  the  ADVANCE,  who,  with  his  family,  was  bound  for 
Fort  Sully.  We  were  prospered  in  our  journey  up  the  Missouri, 
and  gladly  welcomed  into  the  mission  home  on.  Peoria  Bottom- 
The  two  sisters  met  and  passed  some  happy  weeks  in  the  home 
of  the  younger  one.  Mrs.  Howard  thus  describes  that  home  in 


324  MRS.    NINA   FOSTER    RIGGS. 

those  August  days :  "  Its  treeless  waste  lay  under  a  scorching 
sun.  Beneath  a  bluff  which  overlooks  the  river  lowlands, 
nestled  a  solitary  green  enclosure  around  a  long,  low  dwelling, 
whose  aspect  was  of  comfort  and  of  home.  The  sunshine  which 
withered  the  surrounding  country,  was  not  the  gentle  power  un- 
der which  had  sprung  up  this  oasis  in  the  desert.  The  light 
within  the  house,  whose  sweet  radiance  beautified  the  humble 
dwelling,  and  shone  forth  upon  the  wilderness  around,  was  the  fair 
soul,  whose  heaven-reflected  glory  touched  all  who  came  within 
its  ray." 

To  the  same  effect  is  Miss  Collins' testimony:  "I  think  no 
one  ever  entered  her  home  without  feeling  that  the  very  house 
was  purified  by  her  presence.  I  remember  well  just  how  she 
studied  our  different  tastes.  She  knew  every  member  of  the  fam- 
ily thoroughly ;  and  our  happiness  was  consulted  in  all  things." 
So  we  all  thought.  Nina  presided  in  her  own  home,  albeit  that 
home  was  in  Dakota  land,  with  a  queenly  grace. 

About  the  middle  of  that  September,  our  Annual  Conference 
met  in  their  new  and  not  yet  finished  chapel,  on  Peoria  Bottom. 
Miss  Collius  did  not  get  back  until  the  close  of  the  meeting.  Be- 
sides her  guests,  Mrs.  Nina  Riggs  had  a  good  deal  of  company 
from  Fort  Sully  and  the  Agency.  But  it  was  all  entertained  with 
the  same  quiet  dignity.  Of  this  visit  to  her  sister,  Mrs.  Howard 
wrote  afterward  :  "  I  do  not  know  how  to  be  grateful  enough 
that  we  spent  last  summer  (1877)  together ;  it  is  a  season  of 
blessed  memory." 

To  this  I  add :  I,  too,  have  one  last  picture  of  Nina  in  rny 
memory.  I  was  to  return  to  Sisseton  with  the  Indians  who  had 
come  over  to  our  annual  Conference.  They  went  up  en  Monday 
to  Cheyenne  Agency  to  get  rations  for  the  journey.  On  Tuesday 
afternoon  Thomas  arranged  to  take  me  out  fifteen  miles  to  meet 
them.  Thinking  they  would  go  out  and  return  that  evening,  a 
party  was  made  up.  The  two  sisters,  Mrs.  Howard  and  Nina,  and 
little  Theodore  and  Thomas  and  myself  in  a  buggy,  and  Gen.  C.  H. 
Howard  and  "  Mack  "  on  ponies,  we  had  a  pleasant  ride  out.  But 
it  was  too  late  for  them  to  return.  The  Dakota  friends  gave  us  ot 
their  fresh  meat,  and  with  the  provisions  Nina  had  bountifully 
supplied  for  my  journey,  we  all  made  a  good  supper  and  break- 


A   MONOGRAPH.  325 

fast,  and  had  an  abundance  left.  The  next  morning  we  separated. 
That  was  my  last  sight  of  NINA. 

In  midsummer  of  1878,  the  time  for  her  departure  came.  She 
seemed  to- have  a  premonition  of  its  coming.  Miss  Collins  writes : 
"  The  last  summer  of  her  precious  life  seemed  a  very  fitting  one 
for  the  last.  She  labored  earnestly  for  the  conversion  of  her  boy, 
and  said :  '  If  I  should  die  and  leave  my  boy,  I  should  feel  so 
much  better  satisfied  to  go,  if  he  had  that  strong-hold.'  " 

In  the  "Word  Carrier"  for  September  appeared  this  notice: 
"  OUR  BELOVED  NINA  FOSTER  RIGGS,  wife  of  REV.  T.  L.  RIGGS, 
of  Bogue  Station,  near  Fort  Sully,  has  heard  the  Master's  call, 
and  gone  up  higher.  She  was  taken  away  in  child-birth,  on  the 
5th  of  August,  Hers  was  a  beautiful  life,  blossoming  out  into 
what  we  supposed  would  be  a  grand  fruitage  of  blessing  to  the 
Dakotas.  It  is  cut  off  suddenly !  '  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it 
seemeth  good  in  thy  sight.'  WE  ARE  DUMB,  BECAUSE  T-HOU 
DIDST  IT!" 

Two  days  after  her  death,  Thomas  wrote :  "  Dear  Father — 
NITAKOSH-WASHTA  has  been  taken  from  us.  My  good  NINA  has 
gone.  She  was  taken  sick  Saturday  night.  Before  the  light  of 
the  Sabbath,  violent  convulsions  had  set  in.  We  got  the  Post 
Surgeon  and  Mrs.  Crocker  here  as  soon  as  possible ;  but,  though 
every  effort  was  made,  the  spasms  could  not  be  prevented,  and 
our  dear  one  sank  gradually  out  of  reach.  Early  Monday 
morning,  after  child-birth,  the  mother  seemed  to  brighten  a  bit ; 
but  soon  our  gladness  was  turned  to  sadness,  for  she  did  not 
rally.  God  took  her.  She  was  His.  We  buried  the  body— 
the  beautiful  house  of  the  more  beautiful  spirit — in  the  yard  near 
her  window,  yesterday.  May  G-od  help  us." 

Only  a  few  days  before,  a  kind  Providence  had  guided  ARTHUR 
H.  DAY,  a  cousin  of  Nina's,  from  his  work  in  the  office  of  the 
ADVANCE,  in  Chicago,  and  ROBERT  B.  RIGGS  from  his  teaching 
in  Beloit  College,  up  to  Peoria  Bottom,  for  a  little  rest.  And  so 
they  were  there  to  help  and  give  sympathy.  Of  this  event,  Mr. 
Day  wrote :  "  Rarely  is  it  the  lot  of  one  so  blessed  with  loving 
relatives  and  friends,  to  pass  away  surrounded  by  so  few  to  sym- 
pathize, and  to  be  buried  with  so  few  to  weep.  Three  relatives 
and  nine  other  white  friends  stood  alone  by  her  grave,  and  the 
many  hundreds  in  the  far  East  knew  not  of  the  scene.  I  say 


326  MRS.    NINA    FOSTER   RIGGS. 

w\ite  friends,  because  I  would  not  ignore  the  presence  of  those 
many  dusky  faces  which  looked  on  in  sorrow,  because  their  friend 
was  dead. 

"  About  noon  on  Tuesday,  August  6th,  the  funeral  service  was 
conducted  by  Chaplain  Crocker.  The  same  hymn  was  sung  that, 
by  Nina's  own  choice,  had  been  sung  at  her  wedding : 

"  l  Guide  me,  O  thou  great  Jehovah/ 

One  room  of  the  house  was  filled  with  Indians,  and  the  service 
was  partly  in  the  native  language.  Her  grave  was  made  near  the 
window  of  her  room,  where  she  so  often  had  beheld  the  sunset; 
and  as  kindly  hands  laid  her  body  there,  surrounded  by  beau- 
tiful flowers,  the  chaplain  said  :  '  Never  was  more  precious  dust 
laid  in  Dakota  soil — never  more  hopeful  seed  planted  for  a  spirit- 
ual harvest  among  the  Dakota  people.'  " 

This  beautiful  summing  up  of  her  character  appeared  as  an 
editorial  in  the  Advance,  by  Rev.  Simeon  Gilbert. 

Here  was  a  young  woman  of  extraordinary  beauty  of  person, 
of  still  more  noticeable  symmetry  and  completeness  of  mental 
endowment,  sweetness  and  nobility  of  disposition,  brightness  and 
elasticity  of  temperament ;  quickly,  keenly  sympathetic  with 
others'  joys  and  sorrows — but  who  had  never  known  a  grief  of 
her  own ;  converted  in  infancy,  reared  in  one  of  the  happiest  of 
earnest  Christian  homes,  and  favored  with  as  fine  social  and  edu- 
cational advantages  as  the  country  affords;  with  too  much  sense 
lo  be  affected  by  mere  "romance,"  yet  deeply  alive  to  all  the 
poetry  alike  in  literature  and  in  real  life;  and  withal,  from  early 
childhoDd,  with  a  spiritual  imagination  exquisitely  alive  to  the 
realness  and  the  nearness  of  unseen  things,  and  the  all-controlling 
sweep  of  the  motives  springing  therefrom; — rarely  does  one  meet 
a  young  person  better  fitted  at  once  to  enjoy  and  to  adorn  what 
is  best  in  American  Christian  homes.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four 
she  marries  a  young  man  just  out  of  the  Seminary,  and  goes 
forth  with  him  beyond  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  into  the  very 
heart  of  savage  Indian  tribes.  What  a  sacrifice ;  what  a  venture ; 
what  certain-coming  solicitudes,  perils,  cares,  deprivations, 
hardships,  loneliness,  and  mountainous  discouragements.  And 
there,  for  the  short  period  of  lees  than  five  years  she  lives,  when 
suddenly  the  young  missionary  is  left  alone,  longing  for  the 
"touch  of  a  vanished  hand  and  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still." 

Now  a  case  like  this  must  set  one  to  studying  over  again  what, 
after  all,  is  the  true  philosophy  of  life,  and  what,  on  the  whole, 
is  the  wisest  economy  of  personal  forces  in  the  church's  work  of 
Christianizing  the  world.  As  helping  to  a  right  answer,  let  us 
note  a  few  facts : 


A   MONOGRAPH.  327 

1.  It  Qpsts  to  save  a  lost  world ;  and  nothing  is  wasted  that 
serves  well  that  end.    God  himself  has  given  for  this  purpose  the 
choicest,  the  highest  and  the  best,  which  it  was  possible  for  even 
Him  to  give. 

2.  Heathen  people,  even  savages,  as  we  call  them,  are  not  insen- 
sible to  the  unique  fascination,  and  power  to  subdue  and  inspire, 
which  belong  to  what  is  really  most  beautiful  in  aspect,  manner, 
mind  and  character.    Often  it  is  to  them  as  if  they  had  seen  a 
vision,  or  dreamed  a  startling  dream  of  possibilities  of  which 
they  had  known  nothing,  and  could  have  known  nothing,  until 
they  saw  it,  and  the  sight  awakened  into  being  and  action  the 
diviner  elements  of  their  own  hidden  nature.    The  word  of  God 
is  one  form  of  revelation,  but  the  work  of  God  in  a  peculiarly  com- 
plete and  lovely  character  is  another  revelation,  and  one  that  un- 
mistakably interprets  itself.    There  is  as  much  need  of  the  one 
as  there  is  of  the  other.    The  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Christ,  must,  in  most  cases,  at  least,  first  be 
seen  reflected  "  in  the  face"  of  some  of  his  disciples.    The  more 
dense  the  darkness,  the  more  intense  must  be  the  shining  of  the 
love  and  the  beauty  of  the  truth  which  are  to  enlighten,  captivate, 
lead  forth,  and  refine.  Among  all  the  teepees  and  huts  of  that  In- 
dian Reservation,  as  also  throughout  the  barracks  and  quarters  of 
the  military  post  at  Fort  Sully,  Mrs.  Riggs  was  known,  and  the 
potent  charm  of  her  personal  influence  and  home-life  was  deeply 
felt.    It  is  largely  due  to  such  persons,  that  the  cause  of  missions, 
even  among  the  most  degraded,  commands  the  respect,  if  not  the 
veneration  of  those  who  otherwise  might  have  looked  on  deri- 
sively. 

3.  Nor  again  are  the  lives  of  such  persons  wasted  as  regards 
their  influence  upon  those  who  knew  them,  or  shall  come  to  know 
of  them,  at  home.     "  How  far  that  little  candle  throws  its  beams ; 
so  shines  a  good  example;''  and  in  instances  like  these,  it  shines 
more  effectively  than,  perhaps,  in  any  other  circumstances  would 
have  been  possible.    If  one  were  to  mention  a  score  of  American 
women  who  have  exerted  most  influence  in  determining  the  best 
characteristics  of  American  women,  half  of  them,  we  suspect, 
would  be  names  of  the  women  who,  leaving  home  and  coun- 
try, went  far  forth  seeking  to  multiply  similar  homes  in  other 
countries. 

4.  Nor,  again,  is  the  strangely  beautiful  life  wasted  because  cut 
short  so  early  in  its  course.    The   ointment  most  precious  was 
never  more  so  than  when  its  box  was  broken  and  the  odor  of  it 
filled  all  the  house.    This  that  this  young  missionary  has  done, 
animated  by  the  love  of  the  Master  and  a  sacred  passion  for  lift- 
ing up  the  lowly,  will   be  spoken  of  as  a  memorial  of  her  in  all 
the  churches ;  and  in  not  a  few  homes,  of  the  rich  as  of  the  poor, 
will  be  felt  the  sweet  constraint  of  her  beautiful,  joyous,  conse- 
crated life.    She  was  not  alone ;« there  are  many  more  like  her; 
and  best  of  all,  there  are  to  be  vastly  more  yet,  who  will  not  be 


328  MRS.    NINA   FOSTER    R1GGS. 

deaf  to  "  the  high  calling."  The  Master  has  need  of  them.  The 
way,  on  the  whole,  is  infinitely  attractive.  Thanks  for  the  life  of 
this  woman  who  did  so  much,  from  first  to  last,  to  make  it  ap- 
pear so ! 

And  thanks,  too,  for  such  a  death,  which,  coming  in  the  sweet- 
est and  completest  blooming  of  life's  beauty,  when  not  a  fault 
had  stayed  to  mar  it,  and  no  wasting  had  ever  touched  it — an 
ending  which  transfigures  all  that  came  before  it,  and  which  now, 
in  the  mingling  of  retrospect  and  prospect,  helps  those  who  knew 
her  to  a  deeply  surprised  sense  of  the  fact  that, 

To  Death  it  is  given, 
To  see  how  this  world  is  embosomed  in  heaven." 

To  us,  who  are  blind  and  cannot  see  afar  off,  it  is  impossible  to 
perceive,  and  difficult  to  believe,  that  the  taking  away,  in  the 
vigor  of  womanhood,  of  one  who  was  showing  such  a  capacity 
and  adaptability  for  the  work  of  elevating  the  Teetons,  can  be 
made  to  subserve  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  Christ.  But  we 
must  believe  that  God,  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and 
who  makes  no  mistakes,  will  bring  out  of  this  sore  bereavement 
a  harvest  of  joy;  and  that  that  grave  under  the  window  of  the 
mission  house  in  Peoria  Bottom,  will  be  a  testimony  to  the  love 
of  Jesus,  and  the  power  of  his  Gospel,  that  will  thrill  and  uplift 
many  hearts  from  Ban  t  or  to  Port  Sully.  It  was  a  beautiful  life 
of  faith,  and  service ;  and  it  has  only  gone  to  be  perfected  in  the 
shadow  of  the  Tree  of  Life.  g.  B.  R. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  329 


REV.  GIDEON  H.  POND. 


A   SUCCESSFUL   LIFE. 

Born  and  brought  up  in  Litcbfield  county,  in  a  town  adjoining 
Washington,  Connecticut,  REV.  GEORGE  BUSHNELL  visited  that 
Hill  country  in  his  youth,  and  was  deeply  impressed  with  the 
manifest  and  pervading  religious  element  in  the  community. 
Taken  there  by  a  special  providence,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  and  enjoying  the  privilege  of  a  visit  in  some  of  the 
families,  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  had  been  a  good  place  to  raise 
men.  This  was  on  the  line  of  the  impression  made  upon  me 
years  before  that.  When  I  first  met,  in  the  Land  of  the  Dakotas, 
the  brothers,  SAMUEL  W.  and  GIDEON  H  POND,  they  were  both 
over  six  feet  high,  and  "Deemed  the  children  of  a  king." 

In  this  hill  town  of  Washington,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1810, 
GIDEON  HOLLISTER,  the  younger  of  the  two  brothers,  was  born. 
His  parents  were  ELNATHAN  JUDSON,  and  SARAH  HOLLISTER, 
POND.  Gideon  was  the  fifth  child,  and  so  was  called  by  the  Da- 
kotas Hakay.  Of  his  childhood  and  youth  almost  nothing  is 
known  to  the  writer.  He  had  the  advantage  of  a  New  England 
common-school  education ;  perhaps  nothing  more.  As  he  grew 
very  rapidly,  and  came  to  the  size  and  strength  of  man  early,  he 
made  a  full  hand  in  the  harvest  field  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  To 
this  ambition  to  be  counted  a  man  and  do  a  man's  work,  when 
as  yet  he  should  have  been  a  boy,  he,  in  after  life,  ascribed  some 
of  his  infirmities.  This  ambition  continued  with  him  through 
life,  and  occasional  over-work  at  least,  undermined  a  constitution 
that  might,  with  care  and  God's  blessing,  have  continued  to  the 
end  of  the  century. 

He  came  to  the  Land  of  the  Dakotas,  now  Minnesota,  in  the 
spring  of  1834.  The  older  brother,  Samuel,  had  come  out  as  far 
as  Galena,  Illinois,  in  the  summer  previous.  The  pioneer  minis- 
ter of  that  country  of  lead  was  REV.  ARATUS  KENT,  who  desired 
to  retain  Mr.  Pond  as  an  adjutant  in  his  great  and  constantly  en- 


330  KEY.    GIDEON    H.  POND. 

larging  work;  but  Mr.  Pond  had  heard  of  the  Sioux  or 
Dakotas,  for  whose  souls  no  one  cared,  and,  having  decided  to  go 
to  them,  he  sent  for  his  brother  Gideon  to  accompany  him. 

When  they  reached  Fort  Snelling,  and  had  made  known  their 
errand  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the  post,  Maj.  Bliss,  and  to 
the  resident  Indian  Agent,  Maj.  Taliaferro,  they  received  the 
hearty  approval  and  co-operation  of  both,  and  the  Agent  at  once 
recommended  them  to  commence  work  with  the  Dakotas  of  the 
Lake  Calhoun  village,  where  some  steps  had  already  been  taken 
in  the  line  of  civilization.  There,  on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  they 
built  their  log  cabin.  Last  summer  Mr.  King's  grand  Pavilion, 
so  called,  was  completed  on  the  same  spot,  which  gave  occasion 
for  Mr.  Gideon  H.  Pond  to  tell  the  story  of  this  first  effort  in  that 
line: 

"  Just  forty-  three  years  previous  to  the  occurrence  above  al- 
luded to,  on  the  same  beautiful  site,  was  completed  a  humble 
edifice,  built  by  tbe  hands  of  two  inexperienced  New  England 
boys,  just  setting  out  in  life-work.  The  foundation  stones  of  that 
hut  were  removed  to  make  place  for  the  present  Pavilion,  per- 
chance compose  a  part  of  it.  The  old  structure  was  of  oak  logs, 
carefully  peeled.  The  peeling  was  a  mistake.  Twelve  feet  by 
sixteen,  and  eight  feet  high,  were  the  dimensions  of  the  edifice. 
Straight  poles  from  the  tamarack  grove  west  of  the  lake,  formed 
the  timbers  of  the  roof,  and  the  roof  itself  was  of  the  bark  of  trees 
which  grew  on  the  bank  of  what  is  now  called  '  Bassett's  Creek,' 
fastened  with  strings  of  the  inner  bark  of  the  bass-wood.  A  par- 
tition of  small  logs  divided  the  house  into  two  rooms,  and  split 
logs  furnished  material  for  a  floor.  The  ceiling  was  of  slabs  from 
the  old  government  saw-mill,  through  the  kindness  of  Major 
Bliss,  who  was  in  command  of  Fort  Snelling.  The  door  was 
made  of  boards  split  from  a  log  with  an  ax,  having  wooden 
hinges  and  fastenings,  and  was  locked  by  pulling  in  the  latch- 
string.  The  single  window  was  the  gift  of  the  kind-hearted  Maj. 
Lawrence  Taliaferro,  United  States  Indian  Agent.  The  cash  cost 
of  the  building  was  one  shilling,  New  York' currency,  for  nails 
used  in  and  about  the  door.  '  The  formal  opening '  exercises 
consisted  in  reading  a  section  from  the  old  book  by  the  name  of 
BIBLE,  and  prayer  to  Him  who  was  its  acknowledged  author. 
The  'banquet'  consisted  of  mussels  from  the  lake,  flour  and 
water.  The  ground  was  selected  by  the  Indian  chief  of  the  Lake 
Calhoun  band  of  Dakotas,  Man-of-the-sky,  by  which  he  showed 
good  taste.  The  reason  ho  gave  for  the  selection  was,  that '  from 
that  point  the  loons  would  be  visible  on  the  lake.' 

"  The  old  chief  and  his  pagan  people  had  their  homes  on  the 
surface  of  that  ground,  in  the  bosom  of  which  now  sleep  the 


A    MONOGRAPH.  331 

bodies  of  Deceased  Christians  from  the  city  of  Minneapolis,  the 
Lake  Wood  cemetery,  over  which  these  old  eyes  have  witnessed, 
dangling  in  the  night  breeze,  many  a  Chippewa  scalp,  in  the 
midst  of  horrid  chants,  yells  and  wails,  widely  contrasting  with 
the  present  stillness  of  that  quiet  home  of  those 
'  Who  sleep  tbe  years  away.' 

That  hut  was  the  home  of  the  first  citizen  settlers  of  Hennepin 
county,  perhaps  of  Minnesota,  the  first  school-room,  the  first 
house  for  divine  worship,  and  the  first  mission  station  among  the 
Dakota  Indians." 

The  departure  of  Mr.  Pond  called  forth  from  GEN.  HENRY  H. 
SIBLEY  so  just  and  beautiful  a  tribute,  that  I  cannot  forbear  in- 
serting a  portion,  from  the  "  Pioneer- Press,"  of  St.  Paul : 

"  When  the  writer  came  to  this  country  in  1834;  he  did  not  ex- 
pect to  meet  a  single  white  man,  except  those  composing  the 
garrison  at  Fort  Snelling,  a  few  government  officials  attached  to 
the  department  of  Indian  affairs,  and  the  traders  and  voyageurs 
employed  by  the  great  fur  company  in  its  business.  There  was 
but  one  house,  or  rather,  log  cabin,  along  the  entire  distance  of 
nearly  300  miles  between  Prairie  du  Chien  and  St.  Peters,  now  Men- 
dota,  and  that  was  at  a  point  below  Lake  Pepin,  near  the  present 
town  of  Wabashaw.  What  was  his  surprise,  then,  to  find  that  his 
advent  had  been  preceded  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year  by  two 
young  Americans,  Samuel  W.  Pond  and  Gideon  H.  Pond,  brothers, 
scarcely  out  of  their  teens,  who  had  built  for  themselves  a  small 
hut  at  the  Indian  village  of  Lake  Calhoun,  and  had  determined 
to  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  work  of  civilizing  and  Christianizing 
the  wild  Sioux.  For  many  long  years  these  devoted  men  labored 
in  the  cause,  through  manifold  difficulties  and  discouragements, 
sustained  by  a  faith  that  the  seed  sown  would  make  itself  mani- 
fest in  God's  good  time.  The  efforts  then  made  to  reclaim  the 
savages  from  their  mode  of  life,  the  influence  of  their  blameless 
and  religious  walk  and  conversation  upon  those  with  whom  they 
were  brought  in  daily  contact,  and  the  self-denial  and  personal 
sacrifices  required  at  their  hands,  are,  doubtless,  treasured  up  in 
a  higher  than  human  record." 

Gen.  Sibley  mentions  an  incident  belonging  to  this  period  of 
their  residence  at  Lake  Calhoun,  which  never  before  came  to 
my  knowledge: 

" Gifted  with  an  uncommonly  fine  constitution,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  met  with  an  accident  in  his  early  days  from  the  effects 
of  which  it  is  questionable  if  he  ever  entirely  recovered.  He  broke 
through  the  ice  at  Lake  Harriet  in  the  early  part  of  the  winter, 
and  as  there  was  no  one  at  hand  to  afford  aid,  he  only  saved  his 
life  after  a  desperate  struggle,  by  continuing  to  fracture  the  frozen 
surface  until  he  reached  shallow  water,  when  he  succeeded  in 


332  REV.    GIDEON    H.    POND. 

extricating  himself.  His  long  immersion  and  exhaustive  efforts 
brought  on  a  severe  attack  of  pneumonia,  which,  for  many  days, 
threatened  a  fatal  termination." 

My  own  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Pond  commenced  in 
the  summer  of  1837.  He  was  then,  and  had  been  for  a  year  pre- 
vions,  at  Lac-qui-parle.  la  September  my  wife  and  I  joined  that 
station,  and  the  first  event  occurring  after  that,  which  has  im- 
pressed itself  upon  my  memory,  was  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Pond 
and  Miss  SABAH  POAGE,  sister  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Williamson.  This 
was  the  first  marriage  ceremony  I  had  been  called  upon  to  per- 
form ;  and  Mr.  Pond  signalized  it  by  making  a  feast,  and  calling, 
according  to  the  Savior's  injunction,  "the  poor,  the  maimed,  the 
halt,  and  the  blind."  And  there  was  a  plenty  of  such  to  be  called 
in  that  Dakota  village.  They  could  not  recompense  him,  but  "  he 
shall  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just." 

Mr.  Pond  had  long  been  yearning  to  see  what  was  inside  of  an 
Indian.  He  sometimes  said  he  wanted  to  be  an  Indian,  if  only 
for  a  little  while,  that  he  might  know  how  an  Indian  felt,  and  by 
what  motives  he  could  be  moved.  When  the  early  spring  of  1838 
came,  and  the  ducks  began  to  come  northward,  a  half  dozen  Da- 
kota families  started  from  Lac-qui-parle  to  hunt  and  trap  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  Chippewa  River,  in  the  neighborhood  of  where 
the  town  of  Benson  now  is.  Mr.  Pond  went  with  them  and  was 
gone  two  weeks.  It  was  in  the  month  of  April,  and  the  streams 
were  flooded  and  the  water  was  cold.  There  should  have  been 
enough  of  game  easily  obtained  to  feed  the  party.  But  it  did  not 
prove  so.  A  cold  spell  came  on,  the  ducks  disappeared,  and  Mr. 
Pond  and  his  Indian  hunters  were  reduced  to  scanty  fare,  and 
sometimes  they  had  nothing  for  a  whole  day.  But  Mr.  Pond 
was  seeing  inside  of  Indians,  and  was  quite  willing  to  starve  a 
good  deal.  However,  his  stay  with  them,  and  their  hunt  for  that 
time  as  well,  was  suddenly  terminated,  by  the  appearance  of  the 
Ojibwa  chief,  Hole-in-the-Day,  and  ten  men  with  him.  They  came 
to  smoke  the  peace-pipe,  they  said.  They  were  royally  feasted  by 
three  of  the  families,  who  killed  their  dogs  to  feed  the  strangers, 
who,  in  turn,  arose  in  the  night  and  killed  the  Dakotas.  As  God 
would  have  it,  Mr.  Pond  was  not  then  with  those  three  tents,  and 
so  he  escaped. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  333 

No  one  had  started  with  more  of  a  determination  to  master  the 
Dakota  language  than  Gideon  H.  Pond.  And  no  one  of  the  older 
missionaries  succeeded  so  well  in  learning  to  talk  just  like  a  Da- 
kota. Indeed,  he  must  have  had  a  peculiar  aptitude  for  acquiring 
language;  for  in  these  first  years  of  missionary  life,  he  learned 
to  read  French  and  Latin  and  Greek,  so  that  the  second  Mrs. 
Pond  writes:  "When  I  came,  and  for  a  number  of  years,  he 
read  from  the  Greek  Testament  at  our  family  worship  in  the  morn- 
ing. Afterward  he  used  his  Latin  Bible,  and  still  later,  his 
French  Testament." 

In  this  line  of  literary  work  Gen.  Sibley's  testimony  is  appre' 

ciative.    He  says: 

"Indeed,  to  them,  and  to  their  veteran  co-laborers,  Rev.  T.  S. 
Williamson  and  Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs,  the  credit  is  to  be  ascribed  of 
having  produced  this  rude  and  rich  Dakota  toneue  to  the  learned 
world  in  a  written  and  systematic  shape,  the  lexicon  prepared  by 
their  joint  labors  forming  one  of  the  publications  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institute  at  Washington  City,  which  has  justly  elicited 
the  commendation  of  experts  in  philological  lore,  as  a  most  val- 
uable contribution  to  that  branch  of  literature." 

While  Mr.  Pond  was  naturally  ambitious,  he  was  also  pecu- 
liarly sensitive  and  retiring.  When  the  writer  was  left  with  him 
at  Lac-qui-parle,  Dr.  Williamson  having  gone  to  Ohio  for  the 
winter,  although  so  much  better  master  of  the  Dakota  than  I  was 
at  that  time,  he  was  unwilling  to  take  more  than  a  secondary 
part  in  the  Sabbath  services.  "Dr.  Williamson  and  you  are  min- 
isters," he  would  say.  And  even  years  afterward,  when  he  and 
his  family  had  removed  to  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Sneliing,  and 
he  and  his  brother  had  built  at  Oak  Grove,  with  the  people  of 
their  first  love,  Gideon  H.  could  hardly  be  persuaded  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  become  a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  I  remember  more 
than  one  long  conversation  I  had  with  him  on  the  subject.  He 
seemed  to  shrink  from  it  as  a  little  child,  although  he  was  then 
thirty-seven  years  old. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  he  and  Mr.  Robert  Hopkins  were  licensed 
by  the  Dakota  Presbytery,  and  ordained  in  the  autumn  of  1848. 
We  were  not  disappointed  in  our  men.  Mr.  Hopkins  gave  evi- 
dence of  large  adaptation  to  the  missionary  work;  but  in  less 
than  three  years  he  heard  the  call  of  the  Master,  and  went  up 
through  a  flood  of  waters.  Mr.  Pond,  notwithstanding  his  hesita- 


334:  REV.    GIDEON    H.    POND. 

tion  in  accepting  the  office,  became  a  most  acceptable  and  efficient 
and  successful  preacher  and  pastor. 

After  the  treaties  of  1851,  these  lower  Sioux  were  removed  to 
the  upper  Minnesota.  White  people  came  in  immediately  and 
took  possession  of  their  lands.  Mr.  Pond  elected  to  remain  and 
labor  among  the  white  people.  He  very  soon  organized  a  church 
which,  in  a  short  time,  became  a  working,  benevolent  church — 
for  some  years  the  banner  Presbyterian  church  of  Minnesota,  in 
the  way  of  benevolence.  When,  in  1873,  Mr.  Pond  resigned  his 
pastorate,  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  "I  have  preached  to  the  people 
of  Blo&mington  twenty  years."  He  received  home  mission  aid 
only  a  few  years. 

We  are  very  glad  to  have  placed  at  our  disposal  so  much  of 
the  private  journal  of  the  late  REV.  G.  H.  POND  as  relates  to  the 
wonderful  work  of  God  among  the  Dakotas,  in  prison  at  Mankato^ 
Minn.,  in  the  winter  of  1862-'3.  The  facts,  in  the  main,  have  been 
published  before;  but  the  story,  as  told  so  simply  and  graphically 
by  Mr.  Pond,  may  well  bear  repea  ing.  Mr.  Pond  arrived  at 
Mankato  Saturday,  Jan.  31, 1863,  and  remained  until  the  afternoon 
of  Tuesday,  Feb.  3 : 

"  There  are  over  three  hundred  Indians  in  prison,  the  most  ot 
whom  are  in  chains.  There  is  a  degree  of  eligious  interest  mani- 
fested .by  them,  which  is  incredible.  They  huddle  themselves 
together  every  morning  and  evening  in  the  prison, -and  read  the 
Scriptures,  sing  hymns,  confess  one  to  another,  exhort  one  an- 
other, and  pray  together.  They  say  that  their  whole  lives  have 
been  wicked — that  they  have  adhered  to  the  superstitions  ot 
their  ancestors  until  they  have  reduced  themselves  to  their  pres- 
ent ^tate  of  wretchedness  at  d  ruin.  They  declare  that  the}7  have 
left  it  all,  and  will  leave  all  forever;  that  they  do  and  will  em- 
brace thu  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  adhere  to  it  as  long  as 
they  live;  and  that  this  is  their  only  hope,  both  in  this  world 
and  in  the  next.  They  say  that  before  they  came  to  this  state  of 
mind — this  determination — their  hearts  failed  them  with  fear, 
but  now  they  have  much  mental  ease  and  comfort. 

"About  fitty  men  of  the  Lake  Calhoun  band  expressed  a  wish 
to  be  baptized  by  me,  rather  than  by  any  one  else,  on  the  ground 
that  my  brother  and  myself  had  been  their  first  and  chief  in- 
structors in  religion.  Alter  consultation  with  Rev.  Marcus  Hicks, 
of  Mankalo,  Dr.  Williamson  and  I  decided  to  grant  their  request, 
and  administer  to  them  the  Christian  ordinance  of  baptism.  We 
made  thi-  conditions  as  plain  as  we  could,  and  we  proclaimed 
there  in  the  prison  that  we  would  baptize  such  as  felt  ready 
heartily  to  comply  with  the  conditions— commanding  that  none 


A    MONOGRAPH.  335 

should  come  forward  to  receive  the  rite  who  did  not  do  it  heartily 
to  the  God  of  heaven,  whose  eye  penetrated  each  of  their  hearts. 
All,  by  a  hearty — apparently  hearty — response,  signified  their 
desire  to  receive  the  rite  on  the  conditions  offered. 

"As  soon  as  preparations  could  be  completed,  and  we  had 
provided  ourselves  with  a  basin  of  water,  they  came  forward,  one 
by  one,  as  their  names  were  called,  and  were  baptized  into  the 
name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  while  each 
subject  stood  with  his  right  hand  raised  and  head  bowed,  and 
many  of  them  with  the  eyes  closed,  with  an  appearance  of  pro- 
found reverence.  As  each  one  passed  from  the  place  where  he 
stood  to  be  baptized,  one  or  the  other  of  us  stopped  him  and  ad- 
dressed to  him  in  a  low  voice,  a  few  words,  such  as  our  knowledge 
of  his  previous  character  and  the  solemnities  of  the  occasion  sug- 
gested. The  effect  of  this,  in  most  cases,  seemed  to  very  much 
deepen  the  solemnity  of  the  ceremony.  I  varied  my  words,  in 
this  part  of  the  exercises,  to  suit  the  case  of  the  person ;  and  when 
grey-haired  medicine  men  stood,  literally  trembling  before  me, 
as  I  laid  one  hand  on  their  heads,  the  effect  on  my  mind  was 
such  that  at  times  my  tongue  faltered.  The  words  which  I  used 
in  this  part  of  the  service  were  the  following,  or  something 
nearly  like  them  in  substance:  '  My  brother,  this  is  the  mark  of 
God  which  is  placed  upon  you.  You  will  carry  it  while  you  live. 
It  introduces  you  into  the  great  family  of  God,  who  looked  down 
from  heaven,  not  upon  your  head,  but  into  your  heart.  This  ends 
your  superstition,  and  from  this  time  you  are  to  call  God  your 
father.  Remember  to  honor  Him.  Be  resolved  to  do  His  will.' 
It  made  me  glad  to  hear  them  respond  heartily,  '  Yes,  I  will.' 

"When  we  were  through,  and  all  were  again  seated,  we  sung  a 
hymn  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  in  which  many  of  them  joined, 
and  then  prayed.  I  then  said  to  them, '  Hitherto  I  have  addressed 
you  as  friends,  now  I  call  you  brothers.  For  years  we  have  con- 
tended together  on  this  subject  of  religion,  now  our  contentions 
cease.  We  have  one  Father — we  are  one  family.  I  must  now 
leave  you,  and  probably  shall  see  you  no  more  in  this  world. 
While  you  remain  in  this  prison,  you  have  time  to  attend  to  re- 
ligion. You  can  do  nothing  else.  Your  adherence  to  the  Medi- 
cine Sack  and  the  Wotawe  has  brought  you  to  ruin.  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  can  save  you.  Seek  him  with  all  your  heart.  He 
looks  not  on  your  heads,  nor  on  your  lips,  but  into  your  bosoms. 
Brothers,  I  will  make  use  of  a  term  of  brotherly  salutation,  to 
which  you  have  been  accustomed  in  your  medicine  dance,  and 
say  to  you,  "  Brothers,  I  spread  my  hands  over  you  and  bless 
you." '  The  hearty  answer  of  three  hundred  voices  made  me  feel 
glad. 

"The  outbreak  and  events  which  followed  it  have,  under  God, 
broken  into  shivers  the  power  of  the  priests  of  devils  which  has 
hitherto  ruled  these  wretched  tribes.  They  were  before  bound  in 
the  chains  and  confined  in  the  prison  of  Paganism,  as  the  prison- 


336  REV.    GIDEON    H.    POND. 

ers  in  the  prison  at  Philippi  were  bound  with  chains.  The 
outbreak  and  its attendent  consequences  have  been  like  the  earth- 
quake to  shake  the  foundation  of  their  prison,  and  every  one's 
bonds  have  been  loosed.  Like  the  jailer,  in  anxious  fear  they 
have  cried,  '  Sirs,  what  must  we  do  to  be  saved  ?'  They  have  been 
told  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  will  still  save  unto 
the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  him.  They  say  they 
repent  and  forsake  their  sins — that  they  believe  on  him,  that  they 
trust  in  him,  and  will  obey  him.  Therefore  they  have  been  bap- 
tized into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 

GhOSt,  THREE  HUNDRED  IN  A  DAY." 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  Mrs.  Sarah  Poage  Pond  departed,  after  a 
lingering  illness  of  eighteen  months,  and  left  a  "  blessed  memory." 
There  were  seven,  children  by  this  marriage,  all  of  which  are  liv- 
ing and  have  families  of  their  own,  but  George,  who  died  while 
in  the  Lane  Theological  Seminary.  In  the  summer  of  1854,  Mr. 
Pond  was  married  to  his  second  wife,  Mrs.  Agnes  C.  J.  Hopkins, 
widow  of  Rev.  Robert  Hopkins.  The  second  Mrs.  Pond  brought 
her  three  children,  making  the  united  family  of  children  at  that 
time  ten.  Six  have  been  added  since.  And  there  are  twenty-two 
grandchildren,  six  of  whom  are  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
together  with  all  the  children  and  their  companions.  Is  not  that  a 
successful  life?  Counting  the  widowed  mother  and  those  who 
have  come  into  the  family  by  marriage,  there  are,  I  understand, 
just  fifty  who  mourn  the  departure  of  the  Patriarch  father.  A 
little  more  than  two  score  years  ago,  he  was  one ;  and  now  behold 

a,  MULTITUDE  ! 

Mary  Frances  Hopkins,  who  came  into  the  family  when  a  girl, 
and  afterward  married  Edward  R.  Pond,  the  son,  writes  thus : 
"  To  me  he  was  as  near  an  own  father  as  it  is  possible  for  one  to 
be,  who  is  so  by  adoption,  and  I  shall  always  be  glad  I  was 
allowed  to  call  him  father.'" 

The  members  of  the  Synod  of  Minnesota  will  remember,  with 
great  pleasure,  Mr.  Pond's  presence  with  them,  at  their  last 
meeting  at  St.  Paul,  in  the  middle  of  October.  For  some  years 
past,  he  has  frequently  been  unable  to  be  present.  This  time  he 
seemed  to  be  more  vigorous  than  usual,  and  greatly  entertained 
the  Synod  and  people  of  St.  Paul  with  his  terse  and  graphic 
presentation  of  some  of  the  Lord's  workings  in  behalf  of  the  Da- 
kotas. 


A   MONOGRAPH.  337 

During  the  meeting  I  was  quartered  with  Mrs.  Gov.  Ramsey. 
On  Saturday  I  was  charged  with  a  message  to  Mr.  Pond,  inviting 
him  to  come  and  spend  the  night  at  the  Governor's.  We  passed 
a  profitable  evening  together,  and  he  and  I  talked  long  of  the 
way  in  which  the  Lord  had  led  us — of  the  great  prosperity  he 
had  given  us  in  our  families  and  in  our  work.  Neither  of  us 
thought,  probably,  that  that  would  be  our  last  talk  this  side  the 
golden  city.  The  next  day,  Sabbath,  he  preached  in  the  morning, 
for  REV.  D.  R.  BREED,  in  the  House  of  Hope,  which,  probably, 
was  his  last  sermon.  In  the  evening  he  was  with  us  in  the  Opera 
House,  at  a  meeting  in  the  interest  of  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. 

"  His  health  gradually  failed,"  Mrs.  Pond  writes,  "  from  the 
time  of  his  return  from  Synod,  though  he  did  not  call  himself 
sick  until  the  llth  of  January,  and  he  died  on  Sabbath,  the  20th, 
about  noon."  She  adds :  "  His  interest  in  the  Indians,  for  whom 
he  labored  so  long,  was  very  deep ;  and  he  always  spoke  of  them 
with  loving  tenderness,  and  often  with  tears.  One  of  the  last 
things  he  did  was  to  look  over  his  old  Dakota  hj^mns,  revised  by 
J .  P.  W.  and  A.  L.  R.,  and  sent  to  him  for  his  consent  to  the  pro- 
posed alterations.'' 

"  His  simple  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  caused  him  all  the  time  to 
live  a  life  of  self-denial,  that  he  might  do  more  to  spread  the 
knowledge  of  Jesus'  love  to  those  who  knew  it  not."  The  love  of 
Christ  constrained  him,  and  was  his  ruling  passion. 

Of  his  last  days  the  daughter  says : 

"  He  really  died  of  consumption.  The  nine  days  he  was  confined 
to  bed  he  suffered  much ;  but  his  mind  was  mostly  clear,  and  he 
was  very  glad  to  go.  I  think  the  summons  was  no  more  sudden 
to  him  than  to  Elijah.  He  was  to  the  last  loving  and  trustful, 
brave  and  patient.  To  his  brother  Samuel,  as  he  came  to  his  sick 
bed,  he  said :  '  So  we  go  to  see  each  other  die.'  Sometime  before, 
he  had  visited  Samuel  when  he  did  not  expect  to  recover.  '  My 
struggles  are  over.  The  Lord  has  taken  care  of  me,  and  he  will 
take  care  of  the  rest  of  you.  My  hope  is  in  the  Lord,'  he  said. 

"  Toward  the  last  it  was  hard  for  him  to  converse,  and  he  bade 
us  no  formal  farewell.  But  the  words,  as  we  noted  them  down, 
were  words  of  cheer  and  comfort :  '  You  have  nothing  to  fear, 
22 


338  REV.    GIDEON    H.    POND. 

for  the  present  or  the  future.'    And  so  was  given  to  him  the  vic- 
tory over  death,  through  faith  in  Jesus.'' 

IS  THAT  DYING?  HE  SLEEPS  WITH  HIS  FATHERS.  HE  HAS 
GONE  TO  SEE  THE  KlNG  IN  HlS  BEATJTY,  IN  A  LAND  NOT  VERY 
PAR  OFF. 

As  loving  hands  ministered  to  him  in  his  sickness,  loving 
hearts  mourned  at  his  death.  On  the  Wednesday  following,  he 
was  buried.  A  half  a  dozen  brothers  in  the  ministry  were  present 
at  his  funeral,  and,  fittingly,  MR.  BFEED,  of  the  HOUSE  OF  HOPE, 
preached  the  sermon. 

THIS  is  SUCCESS.  s.  R.  R. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  339 


SOLOMON. 


In  the  summer  of  1874,  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson  made  a  tour 
up  the  Missouri  River  as  far  as  Fort  Peck.  His  judgment  was, 
that  there  was  no  opening  at  that  place  for  the  establishment  of  a 
new  mission,  but  that  something  might  possibly  be  done  by  na- 
tive Dakotas.  In  the  mean  time  we  had  heard  from  the  regions 
farther  north  than  Fort  Peck,  where  some  of  our  church  members 
had  gone  after  the  outbreak  of  1862.  Somewhere  up  in  Manitoba, 
near  Fort  Ellice,  was  HENOK  APPEARING  CLOUD, with  his  relatives. 
His  mother,  Mazaskawin — Silver-woman — was  a  member  of  the 
Hazelwood  church,  and  his  father,  Wamde-okeya — Eagle  Help, 
— had  been  my  old  helper  in  Dakota  translations.  These  were 
all  near  relatives  of  SOLOMON  TOONKANSHAECHEYE,  one  of  our 
native  pastors. 

Dr.  Williamson,  by  correspondence  with  the  Presbyterian 
Board,  obtained  an  appropriation  of  several  hundred  dollars  te 
send  a  native  missionary  to  these  Dakotas  in  Canada.  Solomon 
gladly  accepted  the  undertaking,  and  in  the  month  of  June,  1875, 
started  for  Manitoba,  with  SAMUEL  HOPKINS  for  a  companion. 

They  were  received  with  a  great  deal  of  joy  by  their  friends, 
who  entreated  them  to  stay,  or  come  back  again  if  they  left.  But 
provisions  were  very  scarce,  and  hard  to  be  obtained ;  and  hence 
they  determined  to  return  to  the  Sisseton  Agency  before  winter. 
While  in  Manitoba  they  had  taught  and  preached  the  gospel,  and 
baptized  and  received  several  persons  to  the  fellowship  of  the 
church.  Solomon  wrote  before  he  returned :  "  Indeed,  there  is 
no  food ;  they  have  laid  up  nothing  at  all ;  so  that  when  winter 
comes,  where  they  will  obtain  food,  and  how  they  will  live,  no  one 
knows.  But  1  have  already  found  something  of  what  I  have 
been  seeking,  and  very  reluctantly  I  turn  away  from  the  work.Tt 


340  SOLOMON. 

Solomon  and  Samuel  returned  to  Sisseton,  but  their  visit  had 
created  a  larger  desire  for  education  and  the  privileges  of  the 
gospel.  In  the  March  following,  Henok  Appearing  Cloud  wrote 
that  he  had  taught  school  during  the  winter,  and  conducted  re- 
ligious meetings,  as  he  "  wanted  the  Word  of  God  to  grow."  In 
much  simplicity,  he  adds:  "Although  I  am  poor  and  often 
starving,  I  keep  my  heart  just  as  though  I  were  rich.  When  I 
read  again  in  the  Sacred  Book,  what  Jesus  the  Lord  has  promised 
us,  my  heart  is  glad.  I  am  thinking  if  a  minister  will  only  come 
this  summer  and  stay  with  us  a  little  while,  our  hearts  will 
rejoice.  If  he  comes  to  stay  with  us  a  long  time,  we  will  rejoice 
more.  But  as  we  are  so  often  in  a  starving  condition,  I  know  it 
will  be  hard  for  any  one  to  come." 

Rev.  John  Black,  of  Keldonan  Manse,  near  Winnipeg,  heard  o 
this  visit  of  Solomon  to  Manitoba,  and  of  the  desire  of  those  Da- 
kotas  to  have  a  missionary.  He  at  once  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  movement,  and  wrote  to  Dr.  Williamson  at  Saint  Peter, 
proposing  that  the  Presbyterian  Missionary  Society  of  Canada 
should  take  upon  themselves  the  charge  of  supporting  Solomon, 
as  a  missionary  among  the  Dakota?  of  the  Dominion.  But  when 
the  matter  was  brought  before  the  Missionary  Committee,  they 
decided  that  the  condition  of  their  finances  would  not  allow  them 
to  add  to  their  burdens  at  that  time.  It  was  not,  however,  given 
up,  and  a  year  later  the  arrangement  was  consummated.  In  the 
"  Word  Carrier  "  for  December,  1877,  appeared  this  editorial: 

"  The  most  important  event  occurring  in  our  missionary  work 
during  the  month  of  October,  is  the  departure  of  REV.  SOLOMON 
TOOJSKA.NSHAECHEYE,  with  his  fainity,  for  Fort  Ellice,  in  the 
Dominion  cf  Canada.  This  has  been  under  advisement  by 
the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  Canada  for  two 
years  past.  REV.  JOHN  BLACK,  of  Keldonan  Manse,  Manitoba, 
has  been  working  for  it.  A  year  ago  the  funds  of  the  society 
would  not  admit  of  enlargement  in  their  operations.  This  year 
their  way  has  b  en  made  clear,  and  the  invitation  has  come  to 
Solomon  to  be  their  missionary  among  the  Dakotas  on  the  Assin- 
aboine  River.  They  pay  his  expenses  of  removal,  and  promise 
him  $600  salary. 

"  He  has  gone.  Agent  HOOPER,  of  Sissetou  Agency,  furnished 
him  with  the  necessary  pass,  and  essentially  aided  him  in  his 
outfit,  and  so  we  sent  him  off  on  the  10th  day  of  October,  invoking 
God's  blessing  upon  him  and  his  by  the  way,  and  abundant  suc- 
cess for  him  in  his  prospective  work.  From  the  commencement 


A   MONOGRAPH.  341 

of  negotiations  in  regard  to  this  matter,  it  has  been  of  special 
interest  to  Dr.  T.  S.  Williamson,  of  St  Peter.  He  has  conducted 
the  correspondence  with  Mr.  Black.  And  now,  while  the  good 
doctor  was  lying  nigh  unto  death,  as  he  supposed,  the  arrange- 
ment has  gone  into  effect.  If  this  prove  to  be  his  last  work  on 
earth  (may  the  good  Lord  cause  otherwise),  it  will  be  a  matter  of 
joy  on  his  part  that  thus  the  gospel  is  carried  to  regions  beyond, 
by  so  good  and  trustworthy  a  man  as  we  have  found  Solomon  to 
be,  all  through  these  years." 

Thus  was  the  work  commenced.  Dr.  Williamson  did  not  pass 
from  us  then,  but  lived  nearly  two  years  longer,  and  was  cheered 
by  the  news  of  progress  in  this  far-off  land.  This  being  among 
our  first  efforts  to  do  evangelistic  work  by  sending  away  our 
native  ministers,  our  hearts  were  much  bound  up  in  it.  The 
church  of  Long  Hollow  was  reluctant  to  give  up  their  pastor,  and 
to  me  it  was  giving  up  one  whom  I  had  learned  to  trust,  and  in 
some  measure,  to  depend  upon,  among  my  native  pastors.  But  it 
was  evidently  God's  call,  and  He  has  already  justified  himself, 
even  in  our  eyes.  Solomon  found  a  people  prepared  of  the  Lord, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1878,  he  reports  a  church  organized,  with 
thirteen  members,  which  they  named  Paha-cho-kam-ya—M.ivmj£ 
HILL — of  which  Henok  was  elected  elder. 

In  the  next  winter  Solomon  and  Henok  made  a  missionary 
tour  of  some  weeks,  of  which  we  have  the  following  report.  The 
letter  is  dated  "Feb.  22,1879,  at  Middle  Hill,  near  Fort  Ellice, 
Northwest  Territory:" 

"  This  winter  it  seemed  proper  that  I  should  visit  the  Dakotas 
living  in  the  extreme  settlements,  to  proclaim  to  them  the  Word 
of  God.  I  first  asked  counsel  of  God,  and  prayed  that  he  would 
even  now  have  mercy  on  the  people  of  these  end  villages,  and 
send  his  Holy  Spirit  to  cause  them  to  listen  to  his  Word.  Then 
I  sent  word  to  the  people  that  I  was  coming. 

"  Then  I  started  with  Mr.  Enoch,  my  elder.  The  first  night  we 
came  to  three  teepees  of  our  own  people  at  Large  Lake,  and  held 
a  meeting  with  them.  The  next  morning  we  started,  and  slept 
four  nights.  On  the  fifth  day  we  came  to  a  large  encampment  on 
Elm  River.  There  were  a  great  number  of  tents  which  we  visited 
and  prayed  with  them,  being  well  received.  But  as  I  came  to 
where  there  were  two  men,  and  prayed  with  them,  I  told  them 
about  him  whose  name  was  Jems— that  he  was  the  Helper  Man, 
because  he  was  the  Son  of  God.  Tnat  he  came  to  earth,  made  a 
sacrifice  of  himself  and  died,  that  he  might  reconcile  all  men  to 
God.  That  he  made  himself  alive  agaiu,  that  although  men 
have  destroyed  themselves  before  God,  whosoever  knows  the 


342  SOLOMON. 

meaning  of  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  fears  for  his  own  soul,  and 
prays,  he  shall  find  mercy,  and  be  brought  near  to  God.  That  is 
the  Name.  And  he  is  the  Savior  of  men,  and  so  will  be  your 
Savior  also,  I  said. 

u  Then  one  of  them  in  a  frightened  way  answered  me:  'I  sup- 
posed you  were  a  Dakota,  of  those  who  live  in  cabins.  It  is  not 
proper  that  you  should  say  these  things.  As  for  me,  I  do  not 
want  them.  Those  who  wish,  may  follow  in  that  way ;  but  I  will 
not.  You  who  hold  such  things  should  stay  at  home.  What  do 
you  come  here  for  ?' 

"  WALKING-NEST  then  said :  '  You  are  Cloudman's  son,  I  sup- 
pose, and  so  you  are  my  cousin.  Cousin,  when  we  first  came 
to  this  country  there  was  a  white  minister  who  talked  to  us  and 
said :  "  Your  hands  are  full  of  blood,  therefore  when  your  hands 
become  white,  we  will  teach  you,"  So  he  said,  and  when  you 
brought  a  book  from  the  South,  while  they  were  looking  at  it, 
blood  dropped  from  above  upon  it;  and  behold,  as  the  white 
minister  said,  I  conclude  we  are  not  yet  good.  Therefore,  my 
cousin,  I  am  not  pleased  with  your  corning,'  he  said. 

"  But  there  were  only  two  men  who  talked  in  this  way.  We 
eft  them  and  visited  every  house  in  the  camp.  Many  may  have 
elt  as  those  men  did,  but  did  not  say  it  openly.  The  men  said 
they  were  glad,  and  welcomed  us  into  their  tents. 

"  The  next  day  I  came  into  a  sick  man's  tent  whose  name  was 
Hepan,  lying  near  to  death.  I  talked  with  him,  and  prayed  to 
God  for  him.  Then  he  told  me  how  he  longed  to  hear  from  his 
friends  down  South,  and  mentioned  over  a  half  a  dozen  names  of 
his  relatives.  A  woman  also,  who  was  present,  said,  '  I  want  to 
know  if  my  friends  are  yet  living.' 

"  Then  we  continued  our  visiting  from  house  to  house.  Some- 
times we  found  only  children  in  the  tent;  sometimes  there  were 
men  and  women,  and  I  prayed  with  them  and  told  them  a  word 
of  Je-us.  So  we  canie  to  the  teepees  in  the  Valley.  Then  I  met 
Iron  Buffalo.  There  we  spent  the  Sabbath  and  held  meeting, 
having  twenty -three  persons  present.  A  chief  man,  whose  name 
is  War-club-maker,  called  them  together. 

"  Our  meetings  there  being  finished,  we  departed  and  came  to 
the  Wahpaton  village.  They  were  making  four  sacred  feasts. 
We  did  not  go  into  them.  But  visiting  other  houses,  we  passed 
on  about  five  miles,  when  night  came  upon  us.  Still  we  went  on 
to  the  end  of  the  settlement,  where  we  held  a  meeting.  The  tee- 
pee was  small,  but  there  I  found  a  sick  man  who  listened  to  the 
word.  This  was  Chankay,  the  son  of  Taoyatedoota.  He  said  he 
was  going  to  die,  and  from  what  source  he  should  hear  any  word 
of  prayer,  or  any  comforting  word  of  God,  was  not  manifest.  But 
now  he  had  heard  these  things,  and  was  very  glad,  he  said.  This 
way  was  the  best  upon  earth,  and  he  believed  in  it  now.  So 
while  we  remained  there,  he  wanted  us  to  pray  with  and  for  him, 
he  said. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  343 

"We  spent  one  day  there,  and  the  second  day  we  started  home, 
and  came  to  Hunka's  tent,  and  so  proceeded  homeward.  When 
we  had  reached  the  other  end  of  the  settlement,  we  learned  that 
the  white  ministers  were  to  hold  a  meeting  of  Presbytery.  They 
sent  word  to  us  to  come,  and  so  in  the  night,  with  my  Hoonka- 
yape,  Mr.  Enoch,  I  went  back.  They  asked  us  to  give  an 
account  of  our  missionary  journey  among  the  Dakotas.  And  so 
we  told  them  where  we  had  been  and  what  we  had  done.  Also, 
we  gave  an  account  of  things  at  Middle  Hill,  where  we  live. 
When  we  had  finished,  they  all  clapped  their  hands.  Then  they 
said  they  wanted  to  hear  us  sing  a  hymn  of  praise  to  God  in 
Dakota.  We  sang  '  Wakantanka  Towaste,'  and  at  the  close  they 
clapped  their  hands  again. 

"  Then  two  men  arose,  one  after  the  other.  The  first  said :  '  I 
have  not  expected  to  see  such  things  so  soon  among  the  Dakotas. 
But  now  I  see  great  things  which  I  like  very  much.'  The  other 
man  spoke  in  the  same  way. 

"  Men  and  women  had  come  together  in  their  Prayer  House, 
and  so  there  was  a  large  assembly. 

"  Then  the  minister  of  that  church  arose  and  said :  '  White 
people,  who  have  grown  up  hearing  of  this  way  of  salvation,,  are 
expected  to  believe  in  it,  and  I  have  been  accustomed  to  rejoice  in 
the  multiplication  of  the  Christian  Church;  but  I  rejoice  more 
over  this  work  among  the  Dakotas.'  " 

Both  of  these  men  came  home  to  watch  and  wait  by  the  sick 
bed  of  dear  children.  NANCY  MAZA-CHANKOO-WIN — Iron  JKoad 
Woman— the  daughter  of  Henok,  died  April  28,  1879.  She  was 
thirteen  years  old,  read  the  Dakota  Bible  well,  and  was  quite  a 
singer  in  the  prayer  assemblies.  They  say :  "  We  all  thought  a 
great  deal  of  her ;  but  now  she,  too,  has  gone  up  to  sing  in  the 
House  of  Jesus,  because  she  was  called." 

From  Middle  Hill,  near  Fort  Ellice  in  Manitoba,  comes  a  let- 
ter written  on  May  20th,  by  our  friend  Solomon.  He  reports 
seven  members  added  by  profession  of  faith  to  his  church  in  April, 
and  ten  children  baptized.  There,  as  here,  the  season  has  been 
a  s'ckly  one,  and  many  deaths  have  occurred.  For  three  months 
he  has  had  sickness  in  his  own  family.  His  story  is  pathetic- 
"  Now,"  he  says,  "my  son  Abraham  is  dead.  Seven  years  ago, 
at  Long  Hollow,  in  the  country  of  the  Coteau  des  Prairies,  he  was 
born  on  January  12,  1872.  And  on  the  23d  of  June  following,  at 
a  communion  season  at  Grood  Will  church,  he  was  baptized. 
When  Mr.  Riggs  poured  the  water  on  him,  he  was  called  ABBA- 
HAM.  And  then  in  the  country  of  the  north,  from  Middle  Hill, 


3M  SOLOMON. 

May  9, 1879,  on  that  day,  his  soul  was  carried  home  to  the  House 
of  Jesus. 

"  Five  months  after  he  was  born,  I  wanted  to  have  him  bap- 
tized. I  always  remember  the  thought  I  had  about  it.  Soon 
after  a  child  is  born  it  is  proper  to  have  it  baptized.  I  believed 
that  baptism  alone  was  not  to  be  trusted  in,  and  when  one  is 
baptized  now  it  is  finished,  is  not  thinkable.  But  in  Luke  18: 16, 
our  Lord  Jesus  says :  *  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me ;' 
and  so  taking  them  to  Jesus  is  good,  since  his  heart  is  set  on  per- 
mitting them  to  come.  Therefore  I  wanted  this  my  son  to  go  to 
Jesus. 

"And  so  .from  the  time  he  could  hear  me  speak,  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  train  him  up  in  all  gentleness  and  obedience,  in  truth  and 
in  peace.  Now  for  two  years  in  this  country  he  has  been  my 
little  helper.  When  some  could  not  say  their  letters,  he  taught 
them.  He  also  taught  them  to  pray.  And  when  any  were  told 
to  repeat  the  commandments,  and  were  ashamed  to  do  so,  he  re- 
peated them  first,  for  he  remembered  them  all.  Hence,  I  was 
very  much  attached  to  him.  But  this  last  winter  he  was  taken 
sick,  and  from  the  first  it  seemed  that  he  would  not  get  well.  But 
while  he  lived  it  was  possible  to  help  him,  and  so  we  did  to  the 
extent  of  our  ability.  He  failed  gradually.  He  was  a  long  time 
sick.  But  he  was  not  afraid  to  die.  He  often  prayed.  When  he 
was  dying,  bat  quite  conscious  of  everything  that  took  place,  then 
he  prayed,  and  we  listened.  He  repeated  the  prayer  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  audibly  to  the  end.  That  was  the  last  voice  we  heard  from 
him.  Perhaps  when  our  time  conies,  and  they  come  for  us  to 
climb  up  to  the  Hill  of  the  Mountain  of  Jehovah,  then  we  think 
we  shall  hear  his  new  voice.  Therefore,  although  we  are  sad,  we 
do  not  cry  immoderately." 

That  was  a  beautiful  child  life,  and  a  beautiful  child  death. 
Who  shall  say  there  are  not  now  Dakota  children  in  heaven  ?  To 
have  been  the  means,  under  God,  of  opening  in  this  desert  such  a 
well  of  faith  and  salvation,  is  quite  a  sufficient  reward  for  a  life- 
time of  work.  s.  R.  R. 


A   MONOGRAPH.  345 


DR.  T.  S.  WILLIAMSON. 


THE  FATHER  of  the  Dakota  Mission  has  gone.  THOMAS 
SMITH  WILLIAMSON  died  at  his  residence  in  St.  Peter,  Minnesota, 
on  Tuesday,  the  24th  of  June,  1879,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  life. 
My  own  acquaintance  with  this  life- long  friend  and  companion 
in  work  commenced  when  I  was  yet  a  boy,  just  fifty  years  ago 
in  July.  We  were  new-comers  in  the  town  of  Ripley,  Ohio, 
where  Dr.  Williamson  was  then  a  practicing  physician  of  some 
five  years'  standing.  My  mother  was  taken  sick  and  died.  In 
her  sick  chamber  our  acquaintance  commenced,  which  has  con- 
tinued unbroken  for  half  a  century. 

THE  SILVER  WEDDING  of  the  Dakota  Mission  was  celebrated 
at  Hazelwood,  in  the  summer  of  1860.  Dr.  Williamson  himself 
furnished  a  sketch  of  his  life  and  ancestry  for  that  occasion, 
which  has  never  been  published.  From  this  document,  as  well 
as  from  articles  written  by  his  son,  PROF.  ANDREW  WOODS  WIL- 
LIAMSON, and  published  in  the  "  St.  Peter  Tribune  "  and  the  "  Her- 
ald and  Presbyter,"  much  of  this  life-sketch  will  be  taken. 

THOMAS  SMITH  WILLIAMSON,  M.  D.,  was  the  son  of  REV.  WIL- 
LIAM WILLIAMSON  and  MARY  SMITH,  and  was  born  in  Union 
District,  South  Carolina,  in  March,  1800. 

WILLIAM  WILLIAMSON  commenced  classical  studies  when  quite 
young ;  but  the  school  he  attended  was  broken  up  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  teacher  as  an  officer  in  the  revolutionary  army 
When  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  while  on  a  visit  to  an  uncle's 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  Kanawha,  in  Virginia,  several  families 
in  the  neighborhood  were  taken  captive  by  the  Indians,  and  he 
joined  a  company  of  volunteers  which  was  raised  to  go  in  pur 
suit.  After  more  than  a  week's  chase  they  were  entirely  success- 
ful, and  lost  only  one  of  their  own  number. 


34:6  DR.    T.    S.    WILLIAMSON. 

When  not  yet  eighteen  years  old,  he  was  drafted  into  the  North 
Carolina  militia,  and  accompanied  Gates  in  his  unfortunate  ex- 
pedition through  the  Carolinas.  After  the  war  was  over  and  the 
family  had  removed  to  South  Carolina,  William  resumed  his 
studies  and  was  graduated  at  Hampton  Sidney  College— studied 
theology  and  was  ordained  pastor  of  Fair  Forest  church  in  April, 
1793. 

The  grandfather  of  Thomas  Smith  Williamson,  was  THOMAS 
WILLIAMSON,  and  his  grandmother's  maiden  name  was  ANN 
NEWTON,  a  distant  relative  of  Sir  Isaac,  and  Rev.  John  Newton. 
They  were  both  raised  in  Pennsylvania,  but  removed  first  to  Vir- 
ginia and  then  to  the  Carolinas,  where  they  became  the  owners 
of  slaves,  the  most  of  whom  were  purchased  at  their  own  request 
to  keep  them  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  hard  masters. 

Thus  Rev.  William  Williamson  was  born  into  the  condition  of 
slaveholder.  By  both  his  first,  and  second  marriage  also,  he  be- 
came the  owner  of  others,  which  by  the  laws  of  South  Carolina 
would  have  been  the  property  of  his  chi-ldren.  For  the  purpose 
of  giving  them  their  liberty  he  removed  in  1805  from  South  Car- 
olina to  Adams  county,  Ohio.  Before  her  marriage,  Mary  Smith 
had  taught  a  number  of  the  young  negroes  to  read.  And  of  their 
descendants  quite  a  number  are  now  in  Ohio.  It  should  be  re- 
membered that  the  Smiths  and  Williamsons  'of  the  eighteenth 
century  thought  it  right,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were,  to  buy  and  Jwld  slaves,  but  not  right  to  sell  them.  THEY 

NEVER  SOLD  ANY. 

THOMAS  SMITH  WILLIAMSON  inherited  from  his  father  a  love 
for  the  study  of  God's  Word,  and  a  practical  sympathy  for  the 
down-trodden  and  oppressed,  which  were  ever  the  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  his  life.  He  was  also  blessed  with  a  godly 
mother,  and  with  five  earnest-working  Christian  sisters,  four  of 
whom  were  older  than  himself.  He  was  converted  during  his 
stay  at  Jefferaon  College,  Cannonsburg,  Pa.,  where  he  graduated 
in  1820.  Soon  after,  he  began  reading  medicine  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Dr.  William  Wilson,  of  West  Union,  Ohio,  and,  after  a 
very  full  course  of  reading,  considerable  practical  experience,  and 
one  course  of  lectures  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  completed  his  medical 
education  at  Yale,  where  he  graduated  in  medicine  in  1824.  He 
settled  at  Ripley,  Ohio,  where  he  soon  acquired  an  extensive 


A    MONOGRAPH.  347 

practice,  and,  April  10,  1827,  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mar- 
garet Poage,  daughter  of  Col.  James  Poage,  proprietor  of  the 
town.  Perhaps  no  man  was  ever  more  blessed  with  a  helpmeet 
more  adapted  to  his  wants  than  this  lovely,  quiet,  systematic, 
cheerful,  Christian  wife,  who  for  forty-five  years  of  perfect  har- 
mony encouraged  him  in  his  labors. 

They  thought  themselves  happily  settled  for  life  in  their  pleas- 
ant home,  but  God  had  better  things  in  store  for  them.  His  Spirit 
began  whispe  ing  in  their  ears  the  Macedonian  cry.  At  first  they 
excused  themselves  on  account  of  their  little  ones.  They  felt 
they  could  not  take  them  among  the  Indians;  that  they  owed  a 
duty  to  them.  They  hesitated.  God  removed  this  obstacle  in  his 
own  way — by  taking  the  little  ones  home  to  himself.  As  this  was 
a  great  trial,  so  was  it  a  great  blessing  to  these  parents.  This  was 
one  of  God's  means  of  so  strengthening  their  faith  that,  having 
once  decided  to  go,  neither  of  them  ever  after  for  one  moment 
regretted  the  decision,  doubted  that  they  were  called  of  God  to 
this  work,  or  feared  that  their  life-work  would  prove  a  failure. 

In  the  spring  of  1833,  Dr.  Williamson  placed  himself  under  the 
care  of  the  Chillicothe  Presbytery,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
theology.  In  August  of  that  year  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Walnut  Hills,  and  connected  himself  with  Lane  Seminary.  In 
April,  1834,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  R  d  Oak,  he 
was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Chillicothe  Presbytery. 

Previous  to  his  licensure,  he  had  received  from  the  American 
Board  an  appointment  to  proceed  on  an  exploring  tour  among  the 
Indians  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  with  special  reference  to  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes,  but  to  collect  what  information  he  could  in  re- 
gard to  the  Sioux,  Winnebagoes,  and  other  Indians.  Starting  on 
this  tour  about  the  last  of  April,  he  went  as  far  as  Fort  Snelling, 
and  returned  to  Ohio  in  August.  At  Hock  Island  he  met  with 
some  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  at  Prairie  du  Chien  he  first  saw 
Dakotas,  among  others,  Mr.  Joseph  Renv  lie,  of  Lac-qu:-parle. 
On  the  18th  of  September  he  was  ordained  as  a  missionary  by 
the  Chillicothe  Presbytery,  in  Union  Church,  Ross  county,  Ohio. 

A  few  months  afterward  he  received  his  appointment  as  a  mis. 
sionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  to  the  Dakotas ;  and  on  the  first 
day  of  April,  1835,  Dr.  Williamson,  with  his  wife  and  one  child, 
accompanied  by  Miss  Sarah  Poage,  Mrs.  Williamson's  sister,  who 


34:8  DR.    T.    S.    WILLIAMSON. 

afterward  became  Mrs.  Gideon  H.  Pond,  and  Alexander  G.  Hug- 
gins  and  family,  left  Ripley,  Ohio,  and  on  the  16  h  of  May  they 
arrived  at  Fort  Snelling.  At  this  time  the  only  white  people  in 
Minnesota,  then  a  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  were  those 
connected  with  the  military  post  at  Fort  Snelling,  the  only  post- 
office  within  the  present  limits  of  the  State ;  those  connected  with 
the  fur  trade,  except  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley,  were  chiefly  Canadian 
French,  ignorant  of  the  Engli  *h  language ;  and  Messrs.  Gideon 
H.  and  Samuel  W.  Pond,  who  came  on  their  own  account  as  lay 
teachers  of  Christ  to  the  Indians  in  1834. 

While  stopping  there  for  a  few  weeks,  Dr.  Williamson  pre- 
sided at  the  organization,  on  the  12th  of  June,  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church — the  first  Christian  church  organized  within  the 
present  limits  of  Minnesota.  This  was  within  the  garrison  at 
Fort  Snelling,  and  consisted  of  twenty-two  members,  chiefly  the 
result  of  the  labors  of  Maj.  Loomis  among  the  soldiers. 

Having  concluded  to  accompany  Mr.  Joseph  Renville,  Dr. 
Williamson's  party  ernbarked  on  the  Fur  Company's  Mackinaw 
boat  on  the  22d  of  June ;  reached  Traverse  des  Sioux  on  the  30th, 
where  they  took  wagons  and  arrived  at  Lac-qui-parle  on  the  9th 
of  July.  There  on  the  north  side  of  the  Minnesota  River,  and  in 
sight  of  the  "Lake  that  speaks,"  they  established  themselves  as 
teachers  of  the  religion  of  Jesus. 

Of  the  "Life  and  Labors"  pressed  into  the  next  forty-four 
years,  only  the  most  meager  outline  can  be  given  in  this  article. 
It  is  now  almost  two  round  centuries  since  Hennepin  and  Du- 
Luth  met  in  the  camps  and  villages  of  the  Sioux  on  the  upper 
Mississippi.  Then,  as  since,  they  were  recognized  as  the  largest 
and  most  warlike  tribe  of  Indians  on  the  continent.  Until  Dr. 
Williamson  and  his  associates  went  among  them,  there  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  any  effort  made  to  civilize  and  Christianize 
them.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  hundred  words  gathered  by 
army  officers  and  others,  the  Dakota  language  was  unwritten. 
This  was  to  be  learned — mastered,  which  was  found  to  be  no 
small  undertaking,  especially  to  one  who  had  attained  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years.  While  men  of  less  energy  and  pluck  would 
have  knocked  off,  or  been  content  to  work  as  best  they  could 
through  an  interpreter,  Dr.  Williamson  persevered,  and  in  less 
than  two  years  was  preaching  Christ  to  them  in  the  language  in 


A  MONOGRAPH.  349 

which  they  were  born.  He  never  spoke  it  easily,  nor  just  like  an 
Indian,  but  he  was  readily  understood  by  those  who  were  accus. 
tomed  to  hear  him. 

It  was  by  a  divine  guidance  that  the  station  at  Lac  qui-parle 
was  commenced.  The  Indians  there  were  very  poor  in  this  world's 
goods,  not  more  than  a  half-dozen  horses  being  owned  in  a  vil- 
lage of  400  people.  They  were  far  in  the  interior,  and  received 
no  annuities  from  the  government.  Thus  they  were  in  a  condi- 
tion to  be  helped  in  many  ways  by  the  mission.  Under  its  influ- 
ence and  by  its  help,  their  corn-patches  were  enlarged  and  their 
agiiculture  improved.  Dr.  Williamson  also  found  abundant  op- 
portunities to  practice  medicine  among  them.  Not  that  they 
gave  up  their  pow-wows  and  conjuring;  but  many  families  were 
found  quite  willing  that  the  white  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-we-chash-ta 
(Grass-root  man)  should  try  his  skill  with  the  rest.  For  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  his  medical  aid  went  hand  in  hand 
with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  By  _the  helpfulness  of  the 
mission  in  various  ways,  a  certain  amount  of  confidence  was 
secured.  And  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Renville,  a  few  men, 
but  especially  the  women,  gathered  to  hear  the  good  news  of  sal- 
vation. 

Here  they  were  rejoiced  to  see  the  word  taking  effect  early.  In 
less  than  a  year  after  their  arrival,  Dr.  Williamson  organized  a 
native  church,  which,  in  the  autumn  of  1837,  when  I  joined  the 
mission  force  at  Lac-qui-parle,  counted  seven  Dakotas.  Five 
years  after  the  number  received  from  the  beginning  had  been 
forty-nine.  This  was  a  very  successful  commencement. 

But  in  the  meantime  the  war-prophets  and  the  so-called  medi- 
cine men  were  becoming  suspicious  of  the  new  religion.  They  be- 
gan to  understand  that  the  religion  of  Christ  antagonized  their 
own  ancestral  faith,  and  so  they  organized  opposition.  The  children 
were  forbidden  to  attend  the  mission  school;  Dakota  soldiers 
were  stationed  along  the  paths,  and  the  women's  blankets  were 
cut  up  when  they  attempted  to  go  to  church.  Year  after  year 
the  mission  cattle  were  killed  and  eaten.  At  one  time,  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson was  under  the  necessity  of  hitching  up  milch  cows  to 
haul  his  wood — the  only  animals  left  him. 

These  were  dark,  discouraging} ears — very  trying  to  the  native 
church  members,  as  well  as  to  the  missionaries.  As  I  look  back 


350  DK,    T.    S.    WILLIAMSON. 

upon  them  I  can  but  admire  the  indomitable  courage  and  perse- 
verance of  Dr.  Williamson.  My  own  heart  would,  I  think,  have 
sometimes  failed  me,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  "  hold  on  and  hold- 
out unto  the  end  "  of  my  earthly  friend. 

As  Mr.  Renville  could  only  interpret  between  the  Dakotas  and 
French,  Dr.  Williamson  applied  himself  to  learning  the  latter 
language.  Through  this  a  beginning  was  made  in  the  translation 
of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Dakota,  Late  in  the  fall  of  1839  the 
Gospel  of  Mark  and  some  other  small  portions  were  ready  to  be 
printed,  and  Dr.  Williamson  went  with  his  family  to  Ohio,  where 
he  spent  the  winter.  The  next  printing'of  portions  of  the  Bible 
was  done  in  1843-'B,  when  Dr.  Williamson  had  completed  a  trans, 
lation  of  the  book  of  Genesis.  We  had  now  commenced  to 
translate  from  the  Hebrew  and  Greek.  This  was  continued 
through  all  the  years  of  his  missionary  life.  So  far  as  I  can  re- 
member there  was  no  arrangement  of  work  between  the  Doctor 
and  myself,  but  while  I  commenced  the  New  Testament,  and, 
having  completed  that,  turned  to  the  Psalms,  and,  having  finished 
to  the  end  of  Malachi,  made  some  steps  backward  through  Job, 
Esther,  Nehemiah  and  Ezra,  he,  commencing  with  Genesis, 
closed  his  work,  in  the  last  months  of  his  life,  with  Second  Chron- 
icles, having  taken  in  also  the  book  of  Proverbs. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  Bible  translation,  let  me  bear 
testimony  to  the  uniform  kindness  and  courtesy  which  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson extended  to  me,  through  all  this  work  of  more  than 
forty  years.  It  could  hardly  be  said  of  either  of  us  that  we  were 
very  yielding.  The  Doctor  was  a  man  of  positive  opinions,  and 
there  were  abundant  opportunities  in  prosecuting  our  joint  work 
for  differences  of  judgment.  But  while  we  freely  criticised,  each 
the  other's  work,  we  freely  yielded  to  each  other  the  right  of  ulti- 
mate decision. 

In  the  autumn  of  1846,  Dr.  Williamson  received  an  invitation, 
through  the  agent  at  Ft.  Snelling,  to  establish  a  mission  at  Little 
Crow's  Village,  a  few  miles  below  where  St.  Paul  has  grown  up, 
and  he  at  once  accepted  it,  gathering  from  it  that  the  Lord  had  a 
work  for  him  to  do  there.  And  indeed  he  had.  During  the  five 
or  six  years  he  remained  there,  a  small  Dakota  church  was  gath- 
ered, and  an  opportunity  was  afforded  him  to  exert  a  positive 
Christian  influence  on  the  white  people  then  gathering  into  the 


A    MONOGRAPH.  351 

capital  of  Minnesota.     Dr.  Williamson  preached  the   first  ser- 
mon there. 

When,  after  the  treaties  of  1851,  the  Indians  of  the  Mississippi 
were  removed,  he  removed  with  them — or  rather,  went  before 
them — and  commenced  his  last  station  at  Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-zee, 
Yellow  Medicine.  There  he  and  his  family  had  further  oppor- 
tunities "to  glory  in  tribulations."  The  first  winter  was  one  of 
unusual  severity,  and  they  came  nearstarving.  But  here  the  Lord 
blessed  them,  and  permitted  them  to  see  a  native  church  grow 
up,  as  well  as  at  Hazelwood,  the  other  mission  station  near  by. 
It  was  during  the  next  ten  years  that  the  seeds  of  civilization 
and  Christianity  took  root,  and  grew  into  a  fruitage,  which,  in 
some  good  manner,  bore  up  under  the  storm  of  the  outbreak  in 
1862,  and  resulted  in  a  great  harvest  afterward. 

Twenty-seven  years  of  labor  among  the  Dakotas  were  past 
The  results  had  been  encouraging — gratifying.  Dr.  Williamson's 
oldest  son,  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson,  born  into  the  missionary 
kingdom,  had  recently  come  from  Lane  Seminary,  and  joined  our 
missionary  forces.  But  suddenly  our  work  seemed  to  be  dashed 
in  pieces.  The  whirlwind  of  the  outbreak  swept  over  our  mis- 
sion. Our  houses  and  churches  were  burned  with  fire.  The 
members  of  our  native  churches — where  were  they  ?  Would  there 
ever  be  a  gathering  again  ?  But  nothing  could  discourage  Dr. 
Williamson,  for  he  trusted  not  in  an  arm  of  flesh,  but  in  the  all- 
powerful  arm  of  God.  He  found  that  he  at  least  had  the  conso. 
lation  of  knowing  that  all  the  Christian  Indians  had  continued, 
at  the  risk  of  their  own  lives,  steadfast  friends  of  the  whites,  that 
they  had  succeeded  in  saving  more  than  their  own  number  of 
white  people,  and  that  those  of  them  who  were  unjustly  impris- 
oned spent  much  of  the  time  in  laboring  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  imprisoned  wi'.h  them. 

It  required  just  such  a  political  and  moral  revolution  as  this  to 
break  the  bonds  of  heathenism,  in  which  these  Dakotas  were 
held.  It  seems  also  to  have  required  the  manifest  endurance  of 
privations,  and  the  unselfish  devotion  of  Dr.  Williamson  and 
others,  to  them  in  this  time  of  trouble,  to  fuliy  satisfy  their  sus- 
picious hearts,  that  we  did  not  seek  theirs,  but  them.  The  winter 
of  1862-'3,  Dr.  Williamson,  having  located  his  family  at  St.  Peter, 
usually  walked  up  every  Saturday  to  Mankato,  to  preach  the 


352  DR.    T,    S.   WILLIAMSON. 

gospel  to  the  400  men  in  prison.  "That"  said  a  young  man, 
"satisfied  us  that  you  were  really  our  friends."  Sometimes  it 
seems  strange  that  it  required  so  much  to  convince  them!  His- 
tory scarcely  furnishes  a  more  remarkable  instance  of  divine 
power  on  human  hearts  than  was  witnessed  in  that  prison.  For 
a  particular  account  of  this  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Mono- 
graph on  Rev.  G.  H.  Pond. 

Ever  since  the  outbreak,  Dr.  Williamson  has  made  a  home  for 
his  family  in  the  town  of  St.  Peter]  and  its  vicinity.  For  two 
years  of  the  three  in  which  the  condemned  Dakotas  were  impris- 
oned at  Davenport,  Iowa,  he  gave  his  time  and  strength  chiefly 
to  ministering  to  their  spiritual  needs.  Education  never  pro- 
gressed so  rapidly  among  them  as  during  these  years.  They 
almost  all  learned  to  read  and  write  their  own  language ;  and 
spent  much  of  their  time  in  singing  hymns  of  praise,  in  prayer 
and  in  reading  the  Bible.  They  were  enrolled  in  classes,  and 
each  class  placed  under  the  special  teaching  of  an  elder.  This 
gave  them  something  like  a  Methodist  organization,  but  it  was 
found  essential  to  a  proper  watch  and  care.  This  experience  in 
the  prison  and  elsewhere,  made  it  more  and  more  manifest  that 
to  carry  forward  the  work  of  evangelization  among  this  people, 
we  must  make  large  use  of  our  native  talent. 

The  original  Dakota  Presbytery  was  organized  at  Lac-qui-parle 
in  the  first  days  of  October,  1844.  Dr.  Williamson  and  myself 
brought  our  letters  from  the  Presbytery  of  Ripley,  Ohio,  and 
Samuel  W.  Pond  brought  his  from  an  Association  in  Connecticut. 
The  bounds  of  this  Presbytery  were  not  accurately  defined,  and 
so  for  years  it  absorbed  all  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  the 
Presbyterian  and  Congregational  orders  who  came  into  the  Min- 
nesota country.  By  and  by  the  Presbyteries  of  Saint  Paul  and 
Minnesota  were  organized ;  but  the  Dakota  Presbytery  still  cov- 
ered the  country  of  the  Minnesota  River. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  Presbytery  at  Mankato  in  the  spring  of 
1865,  when  our  first  Dakota  preacher,  Rev.  John  B.  Renville,  was 
licensed,  an  incident  took  place  which  illustrates  the  meekness  and 
magnanimity  of  Dr.  Williamson's  character.  On  its  own  adjourn- 
ment the  Presbytery  had  convened  and  was  opened  with  a  sermon 
by  Dr.  Williamson,  in  the  evening,  in  the  Presbyterian  church. 
He  took  occasion  to  present  the  subject  of  our  duties  to  the  down- 


A   MONOGRAPH.  353 

trodden  races,  the  African  and  the  Indian.  Doubtless  some  who 
heard  the  discourse  did  not  approve  of  it.  But  no  exceptions 
would  have  been  taken  if  the  Jewett  family,  out  a  few  miles  from 
the  town,  had  not  been  killed  that  night  by  a  Sioux  war-party. 
Men  were  so  unreasonable  as  to  claim  that  the  preaching  and 
the  preacher  had  some  kind  of  casual  relation  with  the  killing. 
The  next  day,  Mankato  was  in  a  ferment.  An  indignation  meet- 
ing was  held,  and  a  committee  of  citizens  was  sent  to  the  Presby- 
terian church,  to  require  Dr.  Williamson  to  leave  their  town. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  were  indignant  at  this 
demand ;  but  the  good  doctor  chose  to  retire  to  his  home  at  St. 
Peter,  assuring  the  excited  and  unreasonable  men  of  Mankato, 
that  he  could  have  had  no  knowledge  of  the  presence  of  the  war- 
party,  and  certainly  had  no  sympathy  with  their  wicked  work. 

In  years  after  this,  I  traveled  hundreds  of  miles,  often  alone 
with  Dr.  Williamson,  and  while  we  conversed  freely  of  all  our 
experiences,  and  of  the  way  God  had  led  us,  I  do  not  remember 
that  I  ever  heard  him  refer  to  this  ill  treatment  of  the  people  of 
Mankato.  Like  his  Master,  he  had  learned  obedience  by  the 
things  he  suffered. 

Never  brilliant,  he  was  yet,  by  his  capacity  for  long-continued, 
severe  exertion,  and  by  systematic,  persevering  industry,  enabled 
to  accomplish  an  almost  incredible  amount  of  labor.  His  life 
was  a  grand  one,  made  so  by  his  indomitable  perseverance  in  the 
line  of  lifting  up  the  poor  and  those  who  had  no  helper. 

From  the  beginning  he  had  an  unshaken  faith  in  his  work . 
He  fully  believed  in  the  ability  of  the  Indians  to  become  civilized 
and  Christianized.  He  had  an  equally  strong  and  abiding  faith 
in  the  power  of  the  gospel  to  elevate  and  save  even  them.  Then 
add  to  these  his  personal  conviction  that  God  had,  by  special 
providences,  called  him  to  this  work,  and  we  have  a  three-fold 
cord  of  faith  that  was  not  easily  broken.  . 

No  one  who  knew  him  ever  doubted  that  Dr.  Williamson  was 
a  true  friend  of  the  Red  Man.  And  he  succeeded  wonderfully  in 
making  this  impression  upon  the  Indians  themselves.  They  rec- 
ognized, and,  of  late  years,  often  spoke  of  his  life-long  service  for 
them.  With  a  class  of  white  men,  this  was  the  head  and  front  of 
his  offending,  that,  in  their  judgment,  he  could  see  only  one  side 
— that  he  was  always  the  apologist  of  the  Indians — that  in  the 
23 


354  DK.    T.    S.    WILLIAMSON. 

massacres  of  the  border  in  1862,  when  others  believed  and  as-  . 
serted  that  a  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  whites  were  killed,  Dr. 
Williamson  could  only  count  three  or  four  hundred.  He  was 
honest  in  his  beliefs  and  honest  in  his  apologies.  He  felt  that 
necessity  was  laid  upon  him  to  "  open  his  mouth  for  the  dumb." 
They  could  not  defend  themselves,  and  they  have  had  very  few 
defenders  among  white  people. 

In  the  summer  of  1866,  after  the  release  of  the  Dakota  prison- 
ers at  Davenport,  Dr.  Williamson  and  I  took  with  us  Rev.  John 
B.  Renville,  and  journeyed  up  through  Minnesota,  and  across 
Dakota,  to  the  Missouri  River,  and  into  the  eastern  corner  of  Ne- 
braska. On  our  way  we  spent!  some  time  at  the  Head  of  the 
Coteau,  preaching  and  administering  the  ordinances  of  the  gos- 
pel to  our  old  church  members,  and  gathering  in  a  multitude  of 
new  converts,  ordaining  elders  over  them,  and  licensing  two  of  the 
best  qualified  to  preach  the  gospel.  When  we  reached  the  Nio. 
brara,  we  found  the  Christians  of  the  prison  at  Davenport  and 
the  Christians  of  the  camp  at  Crow  Creek  now  united ;  and 
they  desired  to  be  consolidated  into  one  church,  of  more  than 
400  members.  We  helped  them  to  select  their  religious  teachers, 
which  they  did  from  the  men  who  had  been  in  prison.  So  might- 
ily had  the  Word  of  God  prevailed  among  them,  that  almost  the 
entire  adult  community  professed  to  be  Christians.  Rev.  John  P. 
Williamson  was  there  in  charge  of  the  work. 

For  four  successive  summers,  it  was  our  privilege  to  travel  to- 
gether in  this  work  ot  visiting  and  reconstructing  these  Dakota 
Christian  communities.  We  also  extended  our  visits  to  the  villa- 
ges of  the  wild  Teeton  Sioux  along  the  Missouri  River.  Dr. 
Williamson  claimed  that  Indians  must  be  more  honest  than  white 
people;  for  he  always  took  with  him  an  old  trunk  without  lock 
or  key,  and  in  all  these  journeys  he  did  not  lose  from  a  thread  to 
a  shoe-string. 

For  thirty-six  years  the  Doctor  was  a  missionary  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board.  But  after  the  union  of  the  Assemblies,  and  the  trans- 
fer of  the  funds  contributed  by  the  New  School  supporters  ot 
that  Board  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  the 
question  of  a  change  of  our  relations  was  thoughtfully  consid- 
ered and  fully  discussed.  He  was  too  strong  a  Presbyterian  not 
to  have  decided  convictions  on  that  subject.  But  there  were,  aa 


A   MONOGRAPH.  355 

we  considered  it,  substantial  reasons  why  we  could  not  go  over 
as  an  entire  mission.  And  so  we  agreed  to  divide,  Dr.  William- 
son and  his  son,  Rev.  John  P.  Williamson,  transferring  themselves 
to  the  Presbyterian  Board,  while  my  boys  and  myself  remained 
as  we  were.  The  division  made  no  disturbance  in  our  mutual 
confidence,  and  no  change  in  the  methods  of  our  common  work. 
Rather  have  the  bonds  of  our  union  been  drawn  more  closely 
together,  during  the  past  eight  years,  by  an  annual  Conference 
of  all  our  Dakota  pastors  and  elders  and  Sabbath-school  workers. 
This  has  gathered  and  again  distributed  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
churches ;  and  has  become  the  director  of  the  native  missionary 
forces.  With  one  exception,  Dr.  Williamson  was  able  to  attend 
all  these  annual  convocations,  and  added  very  much  to  their  in- 
terest. 

While  the  Synod  of  Minnesota  was  holding  its  sessions  in  St- 
Paul,  in  October,  1877,  the  good  Doctor  was  lying  at  the  point  of 
death,  as  was  supposed,  with  pneumonia.  Farewell  words  passed 
between  him  and  the  Synod.  But  his  work  was  not  then  done, 
and  the  Lord  raised  him  up  to  complete  it.  At  the  next  meeting 
of  the  Synod,  he  presented  a  discourse  on  Rev.  G-.  H.  Pond ;  and 
during  the  winter  following,  he  finished  his  part  of  the  Dakota 
Bible.  Then  his  work  appeared  to  be  done,  and  he  declined  al- 
most from  that  day  onward. 

On  my  way  up  to  the  land  of  the  Dakotas,  in  the  middle  of 
May,  1879,  I  stopped  over  a  day  with  my  old  friend.  He  was 
very  feeble,  but  still  able  to  walk  out,  and  to  sit  up  a  good  part 
of  the  day.  We  talked  of  many  things.  He  then  expressed  the 
hope,  that  as  the  warm  weather  came  on  he  might  rally,  as  he 
had  done  in  former  years.  But  the  undertone  was,  that  as  the 
great  work  of  giving  the  Bible  to  the  Dakotas  in  their  own  Ian- 
guage  was  completed,  there  was  not  much  left  for  him  to  do  here. 
He  remarked  that,  during  the  last  forty-four  years,  he  had  built 
several  houses,  all  of  which  had  either  gone  to  pieces,  or  were 
looking  old,  and  would  not  remain  long  after  he  was  gone.  But 
the  building  up  of  human  souls  that  he  had  been  permitted  to 
work  for,  and  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  he  had  seen  coming 
up  into  a  new  life,  through  the  influence  of  the  Word  and  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  confidently  believed  would  remain. 

When  I  spoke  of  the  near  prospect  of  his  dissolution  to  hi» 


356  DR.    T.    S.    WILLIAMSON. 

Dakota  friends,  there  arose  in  all  the  churches  a  great  prayer  cry 
for  his  recovery.  This  was  reported  to  him,  and  he  sent  back 
this  message,  by  the  hand  of  his  son  Andrew ;  "  Tell  the  Indians 
that  Father  thanks  them  very  much  for  their  prayers,and  hopes  they 
will  be  blessed  both  to  his  good  and  theirs.  But  he  does  not  wish 
them  to  pray  that  his  life  here  may  be  prolonged,  for  he  longs  to  de- 
part and  be  with  Christ."  And  the  testimony  of  Rev.  G.  F. 
McAfee,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  St.  Peter,  who 
often  visited  and  prayed  with  him  in  his  last  days,  is  to  the  same 
effect :  "  He  absolutely  forbade  me  to  pray  that  he  might  recover, 
but  that  he  might  depart  in  peace." 

And  so  his  longing  was  answered.  He  died  on  Tuesday,  June 
24, 1879,  in  the  morning  watch. 

He  had  no  ecstacies,  but  he  looked  into  the  future  world  with  a 
firm  and  abiding  faith  in  Him,  whom  not  having  seen  he  loved. 
Of  his  last  days,  John  P.  Williamson  writes  thus : 

"He  seemed  to  be  tired  out  in  body  and  mind,  with  as  much 
disinclination  to  talk  as  to  move,  and  apparently  as  much  from 
the  labor  of  collecting  his  mind,  as  the  difficulty  of  articulation. 
I  think  he  talked  very  little  from  the  time  I  was  here  going  home 
from  General  Assembly  (June  1st)  till  his  death,  and  for  some 
time  was  perhaps  unconscious. 

"  You  may  know  that  father  had  a  special  distaste  for  what  are 
called  death-bed  experiences.  Still  we  thought  that  perhaps,  at 
the  last,  when  the  bodily  pains  ceased,  there  might  be  a  little 
lingering  sunshine  from  the  inner  man,  but  such  was  not  the 
case ;  and  perhaps  it  was  most  fitting  that  he  should  die  as  he 
had  lived,  with  no  exalted  feelings  or  bright  imagery  of  the  fu- 
ture, but  a  stern  faith  which  gives  hope  and  peace  in  the  deepest 
waters." 

He  lived  to  see  among  the  Dakotasten  native  ordained  Presby 
terian  ministers,  and  about  800  church  members,  beside  a  large 
number  of  Episcopalians,  a  success  probably  much  beyond  his 
early  anticipations. 

On  the  farther  shore  he  has  joined  the  multitude  that  have 
gone  before.  Of  his  own  family  there  are  the  three  who  went  up 
in  infancy.  Next,  Smith  Burgess,  a  manly  Christian  boy,  was 
taken  away  very  suddenly.  Then  Lizzie  Hunter  went  in  the 
prime  of  womanhood.  The  mother  followed,  a  woman  of  quiet 
and  beautiful  life.  And  then  the  sainted  Nannie  went  up  to  put 
on  white  robes.  Besides  these  of  his  family,  a  multitude  of  Da- 


A    MONOGRAPH.  35T 

kotas  are  there,  who  will  call  him  father.  I  think  they  have 
gathered  around  him  and  sung,  under  the  trees  by  the  river,  one 
of  his  first  Dakota  hymns : 

Jehowa  Mayooha,  niinayakiye, 

Nitowashta  iwadowan. 
Jehovah,  My  Master,  Thou  hast  saved  me, 

I  sing  of  Thy  Goodness. 

My  friend — my  long-life  friend — my  companion  in  tribulation 
and  in  the  patience  of  work,  I  almost  envy  thee  of  thy  first  trans- 
lation! S.  R.  R. 


358  ELIZA    W.    HUGGINB 


A  MEMORIAL. 


KLMA  HUGGIN8;   NANNIE  WILLIAMSON;  JULIA  LA  FRAMBOI8B. 

ELIZA  W.  HUGGINS. 


The  Lord  came  to  His  garden,  and  gathered  three  fair  flowers, 
which  now  bloom  in  the  city  of  our  God.  We,  who  knew  their 
beauty,  come  to  lay  our  loving  remembrances  upon  their  graves. 

ELIZA  WILSON  HUGGINS  was  the  third  child  of  Alexander  G. 
and  Lydia  Huggins.  She  was  born  March  7,  1837,  and  died 
June  22, 1873. 

She  early  gave  herself  to  Jesus,  and  her  lovely  life  was  like  a 
strain  of  sacred  music,  albeit  its  years  of  suffering  brought  out 
chords  of  minor  harmony. 

This  young  girl,  in  the  dawn  of  womanhood,  with  gentle  step 
and  loving  voice,  was  a  revelation  to  us  who  were  younger  than 
she.  Huguenot  blood  ran  swiftly  in  her  veins,  and  grief  and  joy 
were  keen  realities  to  her  sensitive  soul.  But  she  quieted  herself 
as  a  child  before  the  Lord,  and  he  gave  her  the  ornament  which 
is  without  price.  Though  she  wist  not,  her  face  shone,  and  we, 
remembering,  know  that  she  had  been  with  Jesus. 

Her  sister,  Mrs.  Holtsclaw,  writes :  "We  are  of  Huguenot  descent 
on  our  father's  side.  Our  great  great  grandfather  was  born  at 
sea  in  the  flight  from  France  to  England.  Two  brothers  (in  that 
generation  or  the  one  following,)  came  to  A.merica,  one  settling  in 
North  Carolina,  the  other  in  New  England.  Our  grandfather 
left  North  Carolina  when  father  was  a  small  boy,  because  he 
thought  slavery  wrong,  and  did  not  wish  his  children  exposed  to 
its  influences. 


A    THIOGKAPH.  359 

"  Grandmother  Huggins  was  a  sister  of  Rev.  James  Gilliland,  of 
Red  Oak,  Ohio.  She  was  a  very  earnest  Christian,  and  often 
prayed  that  her  descendants,  to  the  latest  generation,  might  be 
honest,  humble  followers  of  Jesus." 

"  Eliza  was  converted,  and  united  with  the  church  in  Felicity, 
Ohio,  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Smith  Poage.  She  was,  I 
think,  about  twelve  years  of  age. 

She  was  a  most  loving  daughter,  sister,  and  friend,  because  she 
had  given  herself  unreservedly  to  him  who  yearns  to  be  more 
than  friend,  mother  or  brother  to  us  all.  When  heavy  bereave- 
ments came  upon  the  family,  Jesus  kept  their  hearts  from  break- 
ing. The  dear  father  went  the  way  of  all  the  earth.  Then  a 
brother-in-law,  who  was  a  brother  indeed ;  then  the  elder  brother, 
tried  and  true,  in  an  instant  of  time,  speeds  home  to  heaven ;  and 
again  a  younger  brother,  in  his  bright  youth ;  these  three  were 
the  family's  offering  upon  the  altar  of  freedom.  A  costly  offer- 
ing !  A  heavy  price  paid !  u  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust 
in  him.  " 

For  seven  years  Miss  Huggins  taught  school  as  continuously  as 
her  health  permitted.  Her  methods  as  a  teacher  were  followed  by 
peculiar  success.  She  loved  children  and  had  a  most  earnest  de 
eire  to  help  them  up  to  all  that  is  best  and  wisest  in  life.  Child- 
ren know  by  instinct  whose  is  the  firm,  yet  loving,  hand  stretched 
out  to  lead  them  in  the  paths  of  pleasantness  and  peace.  Some 
of  this  time  she  taught  in  the  Mission  school.  Her  sister  says : 

"I  cannot  write  of  her  long  sickness,  her  intense  suffering,  her 
patient  waiting  to  see  what  the  Lord  had  in  store  for  her ;  all  this 
is  too  painful  for  me.  St.  Anthony,  where  she  first  came  with 
guch  bright  hopes  of  finding  health,  was  the  place  from  which 
she  went  to  her  long  rest.  It  was  the  place  where  she  found 
cure. 

"  The  Dakota  text-book,  which  she  and  Nannie  prepared,  was  a 
labor  of  much  thought  and  prayer.  It  was  not  published  until 
after  she  had  gone  home." 

Mignonette  and  sweet  violets  may  well  be  emblem-flowers  for 
this  lovely  sister.  Would  that  I  might  strew  them  on  her  grave, 
in  the  early  summer-time,  as  a  farewell  till  we  meet  again. 


360  NANCY   JANE    WILLIAMSON. 

NANCY  JANE  WILLIAMSON. 

BY  M.   B.   M. 

When  an  army  marches  on  under  fire,  and  one  after  another  falls 
by  the  way,  the  ranks  close  up,  that  there  may  ever  be  an  un- 
broken front  before  the  foe.  So  in  life's  battle,  as  one  by  one 
drops  out  of  the  ranks,  we  who  are  left  must  needs  march  on.  Yet 
if  we  stop  a  little  to  think  and  talk  of  the  ones  gone,  it  may  help 
us  as  we  press  forward.  Then  to-day  let  us  bring  to  mind  some- 
thing of  the  life  of  a  sister  departed. 

NANNIE  J.  WILLIAMSON  was  born  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minnesota, 
on  the  28th  of  July.  1840.  From  her  birth  she  was  afflicted  with 
disease  of  the  spine,  so  that  she  was  almost  two  years  old  before 
she  walked  at  all,  and  then  her  ankles  bent  and  had  to  be  bound 
in  splints.  k'  Aunt  Jane"  mentions  that  Nannie  was  in  her  fourth 
year  when  she  first  saw  her,  and  at  that  time,  when  the  children 
went  out  to  play,  her  brother  John  either  carried  her  or  drew  her 
in  a  little  wagon,  to  save  her  the  fatigue  of  walking.  So  she  must 
have  truly  borne  the  yoke  in  her  youth.  That  the  burden  was 
not  lifted  as  the  years  went  by,  we  may  judge  from  the  facts  that 
when  away  at  school,  both  in  Galesburg,  111.,  and  Oxford,  O., 
she  was  under  the  care  of  a  physician ;  and  she  almost  always 
studied  her  lessons  lying  on  her  back. 

Though  her  days  were  stretched  out  to  her  38th  year,  her  body 
never  fully  ripened  into  womanhood,  and  her  heart  never  lost  the 
sweetness  and  simplicity  of  the  child.  It  was  not  so  with  her 
mind.  Overleaping  the  body  with  a  firm  and  strong  grasp,  it 
took  up  every  object  of  thought,  and  filled  its  storehouse  of 
knowledge. 

"  The  date  of  her  conversion  is  not  known.  She  loved  Jesus 
from  a  child." 

In  the  fall  of  1854,  our  family  moved  to  within  two  miles  ot 
Dr.  Williamson's  new  station  of  Pajutazee,  or  Yellow  Medicine. 
From  that  time  we  were  intimately  associated,  and  many  de- 
lightful memories  are  connected  with  those  days.  In  September, 
1857,  Nannie  went  to  the  W.  F.  Seminary  at  Oxford,  O.  She 
made  many  friends  among  her  schoolmates,  and  all  respected  her 
for  her  consistent  character,  her  faithfulness  in  her  studies,  and 


A   TRIOGRAPH.  361 

her  earnestness  in  seeking  to  bring  others  to  Christ.  One  with 
more  thankful  humility  never  lived.  She  was  always  so  very 
grateful  for  the  least  favor  or  kindness  done  her,  and  seemed  ever 
to  bear  them  in  mind.  She  was  exceedingly  thoughtful  for  other 
people,  never  seemed  to  think  evil  of  any  one,  and  never  failed  to 
find  kindly  excuses  for  one's  conduct  if  excuses  were  possible. 
After  the  burning  of  the  Seminary  building,  the  senior  class,  of 
which  Nannie  was  one,  finished  their  studies  in  a  house  secured 
for  that  purpose.  Then  followed  the  sorrowful  days  of  '62,  that 
broke  up  so  many  homes,  ours  among  others.  Some  time  after, 
Nannie  wrote  this :  "  It  is  a  little  more  than  a  year  since  we  left 
our  dear  old  homes.  I  wonder  if  our  paths  will  ever  lie  so  near 
together  again,  as  they  have  in  times  past.  Who  can  tell  ?  But 
though  we  may  seem  to  be  far  apart,  we  trust  we  are  journeying 
to  the  same  place,  and  we  shall  meet  there?* 

During  the  months  that  Nannie's  mother  waited  to  be  released 
from  earthly  suffering,  the  daughter  spared  none  of  her  strength 
to  do  what  she  could  for  the  faithful,  patient  mother.  After  there 
was  nothing  more  to  do  on  earth  for  that  mother,  then  indeed 
Nannie  felt  the  effects  of  the  long  strain  on  body  and  mind. 
Even  then  her  nights  were  painful  and  unresting.  But  after  re- 
cruiting a  little,  she  entered  upon  the  work  to  which  her  thoughts 
had  often  turned,  that  of  uplifting  the  Dakota  women  and 
children.  In  1873  "she  joined  her  brother,  Rev.  J.  P.  William- 
son, in  missionary  labor,  at  Yankton  Agency,  Dakota  Ter.,  under 
the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  continued  in  it 
until  her  death,  Nov.  18, 1877." 

"  Her  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  was  such  that  the  minister 
scarcely  needed  any  other  concordance  when  she  was  by,  and  dur- 
ing her  last  illness,  every  conversation  was  accompanied  with 
Scripture  quotations. 

"Notwithstanding  her  physical  weakness,  she  taught  school 
and  did  much  other  work ;  and  as  all  was  consecrated  to  the 
Lord,  we  are  sure  she  has  much  fruit  in  glory.  Many  in  the  Sab- 
bath-schools of  Traverse  and  St.  Peter,  received  lessons  from  her, 
whose  impression  will  last  to  eternity." 


362  NANCY    JANE    WILLIAMSON. 

In  the  spring  of  1876,  she  went  to  Ohio,  on  the  occasion  of  a  re- 
union of  the  first  five  graduating  classes  of  the  W.  F.  Seminary, 
Oxford,  O.  She  desired  with  great  desire  to  meet  her  classmates, 
and  the  beloved  principal,  Miss  Helen  Peabody ;  and  also  to  visit 
relatives,  among  them  two  aged  aunts,  one  of  whom  crossed  over 
to  the  other  side  a  little  before  her.  She  took  great  delight  in  her 
visit,  and  yet  her  nights  were  wearisome,  and  she  was  probably 
not  entirely  comfortable  at  any  time.  But  she  did  not  complain. 

On  her  last  visit  home  her  face  bore  the  impress  of  great  suf- 
fering. It  was  with  difficulty  she  could  raise  either  hand  to  her 
head,  and  could  only  sleep  with  her  arms  supported  on  pillows. 
They  would  fain  have  kept  her  at  home,  but  she  longed  to  do  what 
she  could  as  long  as  she  could.  So  she  went  back,  taught  in  the 
Bchool,  visited  the  sick,  read  from  the  Bible  in  the  tents,  and 
prayed.  In  her  last  illness  soms  of  these  women  cams  and  prayed 
with  her,  and  so  comforted  her  greatly.  She  did  not  forget  her 
brother's  children,  in  her  anxiety  for  the  heathen  around  them, 
and  they  will  long  remember  Aunt  Nannie's  prayerful  instruc- 
tions. 

With  so  little  strength  as  she  had,  it  was  not  strange  that  when 
fever  prostrated  her,  she  could  not  rally  again.  So  she  lay  for 
nearly  eight  weeks,  suffering  much,  but  trusting  much  also.  At 
times  she  hoped  to  be  able  to  work  again  for  the  women,  if  the 
Lord  willed.  But  when  she  knew  that  her  earthly  life  was  nearly 
ended,  she  sent  this  message  to  her  aunt :  u  Do  not  grieve,  dear 
aunt.  Though  I  had  desired  to  do  much  for  these  women  and 
girls,  the  prospect  of  heaven  is  very  sweet."  For  a  while  she  had 
said  now  and  then:  "  I  wonder  how  long  I  shall  have  to  lie  here 
and  wait,"  but  one  day  she  remarked,  "  I  do  not  feel  at  all  troubled 
now  about  how  long  I  miy  have  to  wait :  Jesus  has  taken  that  all 
away."  When  any  one  came  in  to  see  her,  she  said  a  few  words, 
and  as  the  school  children  were  gathered  around  her  one  day  she 
talked  to  them  a  little  while  for  the  last  time.  Two  days  before 
her  death,  she  dictated  a  letter  to  her  father,  who  had  himself 
been  very  near  death's  door,  but  was  recovering:  "I  do  rejoice 
that  God  has  restored  you  to  health  again.  I  trust  that  years  of 
usefulness  and  happiness  may  still  be  yours.  I  am  gaining  both 
in  appetite  and  strength.  I  feel  a  good  deal  better."  But  the 
night  that  followed  was  a  sleepless  one,  and  the  next  day  she  suf- 


A   TRIOGRAPH.  363 

fered  greatly.  About  dark  her  brother  said  to  her,  "You  have 
suffered  a  great  deal  to-day."  She  answered,  "Yes,  but  the  worst 
is  over  now."  He  said,  "Jesus  will  send  for  you,"  and  she 
replied,  "  Yes,  I  think  he  will,  for  he  says,  'I  will  that  they 
also,  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am.' " 

She  spoke  now  and  then  to  different  ones,  a  word  or  two,  asked 
them  to  read  some  Scripture  texts  from  the  "  Silent  Comforter  " 
that  hung  where  she  could  always  see  it,  wanted  it  to  be  turned 
over,  and,  with  her  face  to  the  wall,  she  seemed  to  go  to  sleep. 
She  so  continued  through  the  night,  her  breath  growing  fainter 
and  fainter.  And  at  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath, 
the  other  life  began.  "That  is  the  substance,  this  the  shadow;  that 
the  reality,  this  the  dream" 


JULIA  LA  FRAMBOISE. 


JULIA  A.  LA  FRAMBOISE  was  the  daughter  of  a  French  trader, 
and  of  a  Dakota  mother.  When  nine  years  of  age,  her  father 
placed  her  in  Mr.  Huggins'  family.  In  that  Christian  home  she 
learned  to  love  her  Savior,  and,  one  year  later,  covenanted  for- 
ever to  be  His.  Her  father  was  a  Catholic,  and  would  have  pre- 
ferred that  his  daughter  remain  in  that  church,  but  allowed  her 
to  choose  for  herself.  His  affection  for  her,  and  hers  for  him, 
was  very  strong. 

After  her  father's  death,  Julia  determined  to  use  her  property 
in  obtaining  an  education.  She  spent  two  years  in  the  Mission 
school  at  Hazel  wood,  then  going  to  the  W.  F.  Seminary,  Oxford, 
Ohio,  and  for  a  short  time  to  Painsville,  Ohio,  and  afterward  to 
Rockford,  Ills.  Having  taken  a  full  course  of  study  there,  she 
returned  to  Minnesota  as  a  teacher. 

Our  mother  had  a  warm  affection  for  Julia,  as  indeed  for  each 
of  the  others  of  whom  we  write.  Julia  called  our  house  one  of  her 
homes,  and,  whenever  with  us,  she  took  a  daughters  share  in  the 
love  and  labor  of  the  household. 

A  story  of  my  mother's  childhood  illustrates  the  spirit  of  benev- 
°lence,  by  which  she  influenced  Miss  La  Framboise  among 
*  others.  Her  surviving  sister,  Mrs.  Lucretia  S.  Cooley,  writes: 


364  JULIA    LA    FRAMBOISE. 

"When  the  first  missionaries  from  the  vicinity  of  my  early 
home,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards,  of  Plainfield,  went  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  sister  Mary  was  a  little  girl.  She  was  deeply  im- 
pressed by  the  story  of  the  wants  of  the  children,  as  portrayed  by 
Mr.  Richards,  and  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  accompany  him. 
She  had  just  learned  to  sew  quite  nicely.  Looking  up  to  mother 
she  said, '  I  could  teach  the  little  girls  to  sew.'  Here  was  the 
missionary  spirit.  Those  who  go  to  the  Indians,  to  the  Islands 
of  the  sea,  to  Africa,  must  needs  be  ready  to  teach  all  things,  do- 
ing it  as  to  the  Lord. 

When  the  call  to  teach  among  her  own  people  came,  Miss  La 
Framboise  gladly  embraced  the  opportunity,  laboring  for  them 
in  season  and  out  of  season  for  two  short  years.  Her  health  fail- 
ing, she  was  taken  to  her  old  home  in  Minnesota,  where  she  died, 
Sept.  20th,  1871,  but  twenty-eight  years  of  age. 

Mrs.  Holtsclaw,  one  of  her  girlhood  friends,  went  to  her  in  that 
last  sickness.  She  wrote :  "  I  was  with  her  when  she  died.  It 
was  beautiful  to  see  the  steady  care  and  gentle  devotion  of  her 
step-mother,  of  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  of  the  neighbors." 

Miss  La  Framboise  was  thoroughly  educated,  thoroughly  the 
lady ;  always  loyal  to  her  people  even  when  they  were  most  hated 
and  despised ;  always  generous  in  her  deeds  and  words ;  always 
to  be  depended  upon. 

Oh,  could  we  but  have  kept  her  to  work  many  years  for  the  en- 
nobling and  Christianizing  of  the  Dakotas! 

Bring  lilies  of  the  prairie  for  this  grand-daughter  of  a  chieftain, 
ay,  more,  this  daughter  of  the  King !  I.  R.  W. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  365 


THE  FAMILY  REUNION. 

1879. 

A  MONOGRAPH. 

EIGHTEEN  YEARS  had  gone  by  since  the  family  were  all  to- 
gether. That  was  in  the  summer  of  1861.  In  the  summer 
of  1858,  Alfred  had  graduated  at  Knox  College,  Illinois;  and 
Isabella  returned  with  him  from  the  Western  Female  Seminary, 
Ohio.  They  gladly  arrived  at  home,  in  borrowed  clothes,  having 
trod  together  "  the  burning  deck  "  of  a  Mississippi  River  steam- 
boat. All  were  together  then.  That  fall,  Martha  went  to  the 
Western  Female  Seminary,  and  was  there  when  the  school  build, 
ing  was  burned  in  1860.  After  that  she  came  home,  and  Isabella 
went  back  to  graduate.  In  the  meantime,  Alfred  had  become  a 
member  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  of  Chicago.  And  so  it  hap- 
pened, that  all  were  not  at  home  again  together,  until  the  summer 
of  1861.  Then  came  the  Sioux  outbreak,  and  the  breaking  up  ot 
the  mission  home.  Though  a  new  home  was  made  at  St.  Anthony, 
and  then  at  Beloit,  it  never  came  to  pass  that  all  were  together  at 
any  one  time. 

Then  new  home  centers  grew  up.  Alfred  was'married  in  June^ 
1863.  Isabella  was  married  in  February,  1866,  and  very  soon 
sailed  for  China.  Martha  was  married  in  December  of  the  same 
year,  and  went  to  live  in  Minnesota.  The  dear  mother  went  to 
the  Upper  Home  in  March,  1869.  Alfred  moved  to  the  mission 
field  at  Santee  Agency,  Nebraska,  in  June,  1870.  Anna  was  mar- 
ried in  October  of  the  same  year  and  moved  to  Iowa.  While 
Martha,  the  same  autumn,  removed  to  open  the  Missionary  Home 
at  the  Sisseton  Agency.  In  May,  1872,  a  new  mother  came  in? 
to  keep  the  hearthstone  bright  at  the  Beloit  home.  In  February 
of  1872,  Thomas  went  to  Fort  Sully  to  commence  a  new  station, 
and  was  married  in  December  of  the  same  year.  Meanwhile 


366  THE   FAMILY    KK  UNION. 

Henry,  Robert  and  Cornelia  were  growing  up  to  manhood  and 
womanhood,  and  getting  their  education  by  books  and  hard 
knocks.  Henry  was  married  in  September,  1878,  and  Robert  was 
tutor  in  Beloit  College,  and  Cornelia  a  teacher  in  the  Beloit  citj 
schools. 

At  these  new  home  centers  children  had  been  growing  up 
At  Kalgan,  China,  there  were  six;  at  Santee,  Neb.,  five;  at  Sissel 
ton,  D.  T.,four;  at  Vinton,  Iowa,  three,  and  at  Fort  Sully,  D.  TM 
one.  Another  sister  had  also  come  at  the  Beloit  home. 

And  now  the  Chinese  cousins  were  coining  home  to  the  Amer- 
ica they  had  never  seen.  So  it  was  determined  that,  on  their 
arrival,  there  should  be  a  family  meeting.  But  where  should  it 
be?  Every  home  was  open,  and  urged  its  advantages.  But  San- 
tee  Agency,  Nebraska,  united  more  of  the  requisite  conditions  of 
central  position  and  roomy  accommodations.  And  besides,  it  was 
eminently  fitting  that  the  meeting  should  be  held  on  missionary 
ground.  And  so,  from  early  in  July  on  to  September,  the  clan 
was  gathering. 

First  came  Rev.  Mark  Williams  and  Isabella,  with  their  six 
children,  fresh  from  China,  finding  the  Santee  Indian  Reservation 
the  best  place  to  become  acclimated  to  America  gradually. 
Father  Riggs  and  Martha  Riggs  Morris,  with  three  of  her  chil- 
dren, from  Sisseton  Agency,  arrived  the  18th  of  August.  On 
the  27th  came  Anna  Riggs  Warner,  with  her  three  children,  from 
Vinton,  Iowa.  Mother  Riggs  with  little  Edna  arrived  on  the  29th, 
from  Beloit,  Wis.  Mr.  Wyllys  K.  Morris  and  Harry,  their  eldest 
son,  came  across  the  country  by  wagon,  and  drove  in  Saturday 
evening,  the  30th  of  August.  Thomas  L.  Riggs  and  little  Theo- 
dore, with  Robert  B.  Riggs,  and  Mary  Cornelia  Octavia  Riggs, 
and  their  caravan,  did  not  arrive  from  Fort  Sully  until  Tuesday 
afternoon  of  the  2d  of  September.  Alfred  L.  and  Mary  B.  Riggs, 
and  Henry  M.  and  Lucy  D.  Riggs  were  of  course  already  there, 
as  they  were  at  home,  and  the  entertainers  of  the  gathering. 

Now  the  family  were  gathered,  and  this  is  the  ROLL  : 

STEPHEN  RETURN  RIGGS,  born  in  Steubenville,  Ohio,  March 
23, 1812 ;  married  February  16,  1837,  to  MARY  ANN  LONGLET, 
who  was  born  Nov.  10,  1813,  in  Hawley,  Mass.,  and  died  March 
22, 1869,  in  Beloit,  Wisconsin. 

I.    Alfred  Longley  Riggs,  born  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minn.,  Decem- 


*A    MONOGRAPH.  36T 

ber  6,  1837 ;  married  June  9, 1863,  to  Mary  Buel  Hatch,  who  was 
born  May  20,  1840,  at  Leroy,  N.  Y. 

Children:  Frederick  Bartlett,  born  at  Lockport,  111 ,  July  14, 
1865;  Cora  Isabella,  born  at  Center,  Wis.,  August  19, 1868;  Mabel, 
born  at  Santee  Agency,  Neb.,  September  11,  1874;  Olive  Ward, 
born  at  Santee  Agency,  Neb.,  June  13,  1876 ;  Stephen  Williamson, 
born  at  Santee  Agency,  Neb.,  April  28,  1878. 

II.  Isabella  Burgess  Riggs,  born  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minn.-;  Feb- 
ruary 21, 1840;  married  February  21, 1866,  to  Rev.  W.  Mark  Wil- 
liams, who  was  born  October  28, 1834,  in  New  London,  Ohio. 

Children :  Henrietta  Blodget,  born  at  Kalgan,  China,  Septem- 
ber 25,  1867 ;  Stephen  Riggs,  born  at  Kalgan,  China,  August  22 
1870;  Emily  Diament,  born  at  Kalgan,  China,  May  23,  1873; 
Mary  Eliza,  born  at  Kalgan,  China,  August  3,  1875 ;  Margaret 
and  Anna,  born  at  Kalgan,  China,  May  30,  1878. 

III.  Martha  Taylor  Riggs,  born  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minn.,  Jan- 
uary 27, 1842 ;  married  December  18,  1866,  to  Wyllys  King  Mor- 
ris, who  was  born  in  Hartford.  Conn.,  September  11,  1842. 

Children:  Henry  Stephen,  born  at  Sterling,  Minn.,  June  21, 
1868;  Philip  Alfred,  born  at  Goodwill,  D.  T.,  August  4,  1872, 
and  died  at  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  August  18, 1873;  Mary  Theodora, 
born  at  Good  Will,  D.  T.,  July  31, 1874;  Charles  Riggs,  born  at 
Good  Will,  D.  T.,  June  21, 1877 ;  Nina  Margaret  Foster,  born  at 
Good  Will,  D.  T.,  May  30,  1879. 

IV.  Anna  Jane  Riggs,  born  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,   Minn., 
April  13,  1845 ;  married  October  14, 1870,  to  Horace  Everett  War- 
ner, who  was  born  January  10,  1839,  near  Painesville,  Ohio. 

Children:  Marjorie,  born  at  Belle  Plaine,  Iowa,  September 
29,  1872 ;  Arthur  Hallam,  born  in  Vinton,  Iowa,  October  28,  1875 ; 
Everett  Longley,  born  in  Vinton,  Iowa,  July  15,  1877. 

V.  Thomas  Lawrence  Riggs,  born  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minn.,  June 
3, 1847 ;  married  December  26, 1872,  to  Cornelia  Margaret  Foster, 
who  was  born  in  Bangor,  Mai*e,  March  19,  1848,  and  died  Au. 
gust  5,  1878,  at  Fort  Sully,  D.  T. 

Child :  Theodore  Foster,  born  near  Fort  Sully,  D.  T.,  July  7, 
1874. 

VI.  Henry  Marty n  Riggs,  born  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minn.,  Sep- 


868  THE    FAMILY   REUNION. 

tember  25, 1849 ;  married  September  24,  1878,  to  Lucy  M.  Dodge, 
who  was  born  at  Grafton,  Mass.,  February  29,  1852.* 

VII.  Robert  Baird  Riggs,  born  at  Hazelwood,  Minn.,  May  22 
1855. 

VIII.  Mary    Cornelia    Octavia   Riggs,  born  at  Hazelwood, 
Minn.,  February  17, 1859. 

STEPHEN  R.  RIGGS  married,  May  28, 1872,  MRS.  ANNIE  BAKER 
ACKLEY,  who  was  born  March  14,  1835,  in  Granville,  Ohio. 

IX.  Edna  Baker  Riggs,  born  at  Beloit,  Wis.,  December  2, 
1874. 

The  SODS  and  daughters  brought  into  the  original  family  by 
marriage  contributed  much  to  the  success  of  the  reunion.  The 
cousins  will  not  soon  forget  the  inimitable  stories  of  Uncle  Mark. 
Horace  E.  Warner  wrote  a  charming  letter,  proving  conclusively 
that  he  was  really  present ;  while  Uncle  Wyllys  must  have  gained 
the  perpetual  remembrance  of  the  boys,  by  taking  them  swim- 
ming. Mary  Hatch  Riggs  was  the  unflagging  main  spring  of  the 
whole  meeting.  Lucy  Dodge  Riggs  presided  hospitably  at  the 
"Young  men's  hall,  "where  many  of  the  guests  were  entertained; 
and  the  new  mother,  Annie  Baker  Riggs,  won  the  love  of  all. 

It  would  not  have  been  a  perfect  meeting  without  seeing  the 
face  of  John  P.  Williamson,  the  elder  brother  of  the  mission. 
Then,  too,  there  was  our  friend  Rev.  Joseph  Ward,  whose  home 
at  Yankton  has  so  often  been  the  "House  Beautiful"  to  our  mis- 
sionary pilgrims.  We  were  also  favored  with  the  presence  of 
many  of  our  missionary  women :  Mrs.  Hall,  of  Fort  Berthold, 
Misses  Collins  and  Irvine,  from  Fort  Sully,  and  Misses  Shepard, 
Paddock,  Webb  and  Skea,  of  Santee.  The  children  will  long  re- 
member the  party  given  them  by  Miss  Shepard  in  the  Dakota 
Home,  and  the  picnic  on  the  hill. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  any  adequate  report  of  such  a  Reunion. 
The  renewal  of  acquaintance,  taking  the  bearings  of  one  an- 
other's whereabouts  in  mental  and  spiritual  advance,  is  more 
through  chit-chat  and  incidental  revelations,  than  in  any  of  the 
things  that  can  be  told. 

And  so  we  gather  in  as  memorials  and  reminders  some  of  the 

*  NOTB.— After  the  family  gathering,  a  child  wag  born— Lewis  Ward,  Octo- 
ber 19,  1879. 


A    MONOGRAPH. 

papers  read  at  the  evening  sociables,  and  some  paragraphs  from 
reports  of  the  Reunion  published  in  the  Word  Carrier  and  Ad. 
nance.  First,  we  will  have  Isabella's  paper,  the  story  of  that  long 
journey  home —  By  Land  and  by  Sea : 

Ding  lang,  ding  lang,  ding  lang !  Hear  the  bells.  The  litters 
are  packed,  the  good-byes  spoken.  Thirteen  years  of  work  in 
sorrow  and  in  joy  are  over.  "  Good  bye.  We  will  pray  for  you 
all;  do  not  forget  us." 

Down  the  narrow  street,  past  the  closely  crowded  houses  of 
more  crowded  inmates,  beyond  the  pale  green  of  the  gardens,  on 
the  stony  plain,  and  our  long  journey  is  begun. 

Eight  hours  and  the  first  inn  is  reached,  we  having  made  a 
twenty-five-mile  stage.  Over  rocks  and  river,  fertile  lake  bed, 
desert  plain,  and  through  mountain  gorge  we  creep  our  way,  till, 
on  the  fifth  day,  the  massive  walls  of  Peking  loom  up  before  us. 

Here  there  are  cordial  greetings  from  warm  hearts,  and  will- 
ing hands  stretched  out  to  help.  Best  of  all  is  the  inspiration  of 
mission  meeting  with  its  glad,  good  news  from  Shantung 'Prov- 
ince. 

By  cart  and  by  canal  boat  again  away.  At  Tientsin  we  ride 
by  starlight  in  jinrickshas,  to  tne  steamer.  How  huge  the  mon- 
ster! How  broad  seems  the  river,  covered  here  and  yonder,  and 
again  yonder,  with  fleets  of  boats ! 

We  ensconse  ourselves  'in  the  assigned  state  rooms,  and  little 
Anna's  foster  mother  keeps  a  vigil  by  the  child  so  soon  to  be 
her's  no  more.  "Farewell,  farewell." 

Grey  morning  comes,  and  the  ponderous  engine  begins  his 
work.  We  move  past  boats,  ships,  steamers,  past  the  frrt  at 
Taku,  out  on  the  open  sea.  No  one  sings,  "  A  life  on  the  ocean 
wave,"  or  "  Murmuring  sea,"  for  our  "day  of  youth  went  yester- 
day." The  enthusiasm  of  early  years  is  gone.  Instead,  I  read 
reverently  the  107th  Psalm,  verses  23,31.  Then  with  the  strong, 
glad,  spray-laden  breeze  on  one's  face,  it  is  fitting  to  read,  "  The 
Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the  noise  of  many  waters,  jea, 
than  the  waves  of  the  sea."  "Let  the  sea  roar,  and  the  fullness 
thereof.  Let  the  floods  clap  their  hands  *  *  before  the  Lord.' 
"The  sea  is  his  and  he  made  it."  "  The  earth]is  full  of  thy  riches : 
so  is  this  great  and  wide  sea.  There  go  the  ships ;  there  is  that 
leviathan  whom  thou  hast  made  to  play  therein." 

Five  days,  and  we  steam  up  through  the  low,  flat,  fertile 
shores  of  Woo  Sung  River  to  Shanghai. 

Ho  for  the  land  of  the  rising  sun  !  Two  days  we  sail  over  a 
silver  sea;  yonder  is  Nagasaki,  and  now  a  heavy  rain  reminds 
us  that  this  is  Japan.  On  through  the  Inland  Sea.  How  surpass- 
ingly beautiful  are  the  green  hills  and  mountains  on  every  side. 

At  Kobe  we  receive  a  delightful  welcome  from  Mr.  0.  H. 
Gulick's  family,  and  on  the  morrow  we  meet  our  former  co-la- 
24 


370  THE   FAMILY    REUNION. 

borer  in  the  Kalgan  work,  Rev.  J.  T.  Gulick.  Ten  days  of  rest, 
and  our  little  Anna  is  herself  again.  She  is  round  and  fair  and 
sweet,  and  every  one  laughingly  says  she  is  more  like  our  hostess 
than  like  ine. 

Again  away,  in  a  floating  palace,  fitly  named  City  of  Tokio. 
We  glide  out  of  sight  of  Japan,  with  hearts  strangely  stirred  by 
Ood's  work  in  that  land. 

One  sail  after  another  disappears  until  we  are  alone  on  the 
great  ocean.  Water,  water,  water  everywhere. 

Our  days  are  all  alike.  Constant  care  of  the  children,  and 
thoughts  of  home  and  beloved  ones  keep  hand  and  heart  busy. 
The  events  of  each  day  are  breakfast,  tiffin  and  dinner,  daintily 
prepared,  and  faultlessly  served  by  deft  and  noisless  waiters. 
We  think  it  a  pleasant  variety  when  a  stiff  breeze  makes  the 
waves  run  high.  The  table  racks  are  on,  yet  once  and  again  a 
glass  of  water  or  a  plate  of  soup  goes  over.  We  turn  our  plates 
at  the  proper  angle,  when  the  long  roll  begins,  and  unconcern- 
edly go  on. 

One  day  of  waves  mountain  high,  which  sweep  us  on  to  pur 
desired  haven.  On  the  18th  day  we  see  the  shore  of  beautiful 
America.  How  the  heart  beats !  So  soon  to  see  father,  brothers 
and  sisters !  Thank  God.  Aye,  thank  him,  too,  for  the  manifold 
mercies  of  our  journey. 

How  strange  and  yet  familiar  are  the  sights  and  sounds 
of  San  Francisco.  The  children's  eyes  shine  as  they  plan  and 
execute  raids  on  a  toy  store. 

There  is  yet  the  land  journey  of  thousands  of  miles.  By 
night  and  by  day  we  speed  on ;  across  gorge,  through  tunnel  and 
snow-shed,  over  the  alkali  plains,  over  fertile  fields,  to  Omaha. 

At  last  we  arrive  in  Yankton,  and  a  cheery  voice  makes 
weary  hearts  glad.  'lam  Mr.  Ward.  Your  brother  Henry  is 
here.'  Ah,  is  that  Henry  ?  How  he  has  changed,  from  boyhood 
to  manhood! 

"Over  the  hills  and  faraway."  Here  we  are!  How  beauti- 
ful the  mission  houses  look !  And  the  dear  familiar  faces !  Rest 
and  home  at  last  for  a  little  while.  "For  here  h&ve  we  no  contin- 
uing city,  but  we  seek  one  to  come." 

But  journeying  may  be  done  much  more  quickly  by  thought; 
and  spirit  may  go  as  quick  as  thought.  So  here  is  the  account  of 
Horace  E.  Warner's  thought  journey  to  the  family  meeting: 

If  there  has  seemed  to  be  any  lack  of  interest  on  my  part  in 
the  Family  Reunion,  it  is  only  in  the  seeming.  For  my  decision 
to  stay  at  home  was  made  with  deep  regret,  and  after  the  slaying 
of  much  strong  desire.  But  aside  from  the  gratification  which 
it  would  have  given  me  to  see  you  all,  and  which  I  hope  it  would 
have  given  you  to  see  me,  I  do  not  think  the  idea  of  the  meeting- 
is  impaired  by  my  absence.  Only  this— I  feel  as  though  I  had, 
not  willfully  nor  willingly,  but  none  the  less  certainly,  cut  my- 


A    MONOGRAPH.  371 

self  off  from  that  sympathy — in  the  Greek  sense— which  I  stood 
in  much  need  of,  and  can  ill  afford  to  miss. 

I  suppose  you  are  now  all  toother  with  one  accord  in  one 
place,  so  far  as  that  is  possible.  To  be  ALL  together  would  re- 
quire the  union  of  two  worlds.  And  this  may  be,  too, — shall  we 
not  say  it  is  so?  Bat  if  the  dear  ones  from  the  unseen  world  are 
present,  thou.  h  you  cannot  hear  their  speech  nor  detect  their  pres- 
ence by  any  of  the  senses,  cannot  you  feel  that  I  am  really  with 
you  in  some  sense  too  ?  Of  course  the  difference  is  great,  but  so 
also  the  difference  is  great  between  the  meeting  of  friends  in  the 
natural  body  and  the  spiritual  body.  If  the  mind,  the  soul,  con- 
stitutes the  man  rather  than  the  animal  substances,  or  the  myriad 
cells  which  make  up  his  physical  organization,  why  may  not  I 
leap  over  the  insignificant  barrier  that  divides  us  ?  As  I  write, 
this  feeling  is  very  strong  with  me.  It  is  vague  and  indefinite, 
but  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  been  having  some  kind  of 
communication  or  communion  with  you.  At  all  events,  my  heart 
goes  out  strongly  toward  you  all  with  fervent  desire  that  the 
meeting  will  be  full  of  joy  and  comfort — of  sweetest  and  spiritual 
growth — the  occasion  ot  new  inspiration,  new  courage,  new 
hopes.  It  is  not  likely  that  there  can  be  any  repetition  of  it  this 
side  of  the  "  city  which  hath  foundations." 

So  the  memories  of  this  meeting  should  be  the  sweetest,  and 
should  cluster  thick  around  you  in  the  years  of  separation.  This 
much  I  must  perforce  miss.  For  though  I  do  truly  rejoice  in 
your  joys,  and  partake  with  you  of  the  gladness  of  the  meeting 
after  so  long  a  time;  yet  it  is  only  by  imagination  and  sympathy 
that  I  make  myself  one  with  you,  and  of  this  the  future  can  have 
no  recollection. 

Now  we  will  let  others  give  their  thoughts  of  the  meeting,  as 
it  seemed  to  them  from  outside.  And  first,  a  few  words  from  Rev . 
John  P.  Williamson,  of  Yankton  Agency: 

The  first  week  in  September,  1879,  will  long  be  remembered 
by  the  Riggs  family,  and  by  one  or  two  who  were  not  Riggs'. 
From  the  east  and  the  west,  from  the  north  and  the  south,  and 
from  across  the  mighty  Pacific,  they  gathered  at  the  eldest  broth- 
er's house,  at  Santee  Agency,  Nebraska,  for  a  Family  Reunion.  It 
was  forty-two  years  last  February  since  Stephen  Return  Rigga 
married  Mary  Ann  Longley  and  came  out  as  a  missionary  to  the 
Dakotas;  and  now  in  his  sixty-eighth  year,  his  step  still  light,  and 
his  heart  still  young;  he  walks  in  to  his  son's  house  to  find  him- 
self surrounded  by  nine  children,  three  sons-in-law,  two  daugh- 
ters-in-law, and  nineteen  grandchildren ;  with  himself  and  wife 
making  a  company  of  thirty-five,  and  all  present  except  one  son- 
in-law. 

This  roll  may  never  be  as  interesting  to  universal  mankind  as 
that  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis,  but  it  is  almost  extended 
enough  to  evolve  a  few  general  truths.  If  we  were  to  pick  these 


372  THE    FAMILY    REUNION. 

up  our  first  deduction  would  be  that  like  begets  like.  This  man 
has  certainly  given  more  than  his  proportion  of  missionaries. 
And  why,  except  that  like  begets  like.  He  was  a  missionary,  his 
children  partook  of  his  spirit  and  became  missionaries.  We 
heard  some  mathematical  member  of  the  company  computing  the 
number  of  years  of  missionary  service  the  family  had  rendered. 
The  amount  has  slipped  our  memory,  but  we  should  say  it  was 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

Our  other  deduction  would  be  that  the  missionary  profession 
is  a  healthy  one.  Here  is  a  family  of  no  uncommon  physical 
vigor,  and  yet  not  a  single  death  occurred  among  the  children 
•who  are  in  goodly  number.  True  the  mother  of  the  family  has 
finished  her  work  and  crossed  the  river  to  wait  with  her  longing 
smile  the  coming  children,  but  another  ministers  in  her  room, 
who  has  added  little  Aunt  Edna  to  the  list,  to  stand  before  her 
father  when  the  rest  are  far  away. 

Next  we  have  the  observations  of  Rev.  Joseph  Ward,  of  Yank- 
ton: 

Families  have  their  characteristic  points  as  well  as  individ- 
uals. The  family  of  Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs,  D.  D.,  is  no  exception  to 
this.  Their  characteristics  all  point  in  one  direction.  It  is  nota- 
bly a  missionary  family.  It  began  on  missionary  ground  forty- 
two  years  ago  at  Lac-qui-parle,  Minnesota.  From  that  time  until 
the  present  the  name  of  the  family  head  has  always  appeared  in 
the  list  of  missionaries  of  the  American  Board.  One  after  an- 
other the  names  of  the  children  have  been  added  to  the  list,  until 
now  we  find  Alfred,  Isabella,'  Martha,  Thomas,  Henry,  attached 
to  the  mission  ;  and  doing  genuine  missionary  work,  though  not 
bearing:  9  commission  from  the  Board,  are  two  more,  Robert  and 
Cornelia 

What  place  more  suitable  for  the  meeting  together  of  father, 
children,  and  children's  children — thirty-four  all  told,  counting 
those  who  have  joined  the  family  by  marriage— than  Santee 
Agency,  Nebraska,  a  mission  station  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

Though  not  of  the  family,  I  was  honored  by  an  invitation  to 
attend  the  meeting,  assured  that  a  "bed  and  a  plate  would  be  re- 
s:rved  for  me;1'  and  so,  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  September,  I 
s:ood  on  the  bank  of  the  Missouri,  opposite  the  Agency,  waiting 
for  the  ferryman  to  set  me  across.  I  came  at  the  right  time,  for 
presently  the  delegation  from  Ft.  Sully  drove  their  two  teams  to 
the  landing,  and  in  a  moment  more  Rev.  J.  P.  Williamson,  with 
his  oldest  daughter,  from  Yankton  Agency,  were  added  to  our 
number. 

They  came  from  the  east,  and  the  west,  and  the  north. 
These  from  Sisseton,  these  from  Sully,  and  these  from  the  land  of 
Sinim,  for  the  oldest  daughter  and  her  husband.  Rev.  Mark  Wil- 
liams, have  been  for  thirteen  years  in  Kalgan,  Northern  China, 
and  now  for  the  first  time  come  back  to  see  the  father  and  the 


A    MONOGRAPH.  373 

fatherland.  The  personal  part  of  the  meeting  I  have  no  right  to 
mention.  I  speak  only  of  its  missionary  character.  The  very 
Prudential  Committee  ilself,  in  its  weekly  meetings,  cannot  be 
more  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  missionary  spirit  than  was  every 
hour  of  this  "reunion.  And  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  All  the 
reminiscences  were  of  their  home  on  missionary  ground,  at  Lac- 
qui-parle,  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  and  at  Hazelwood.  Did  they 
talk  of  present  duties  and  doings?  What  could  they  have  for 
their  theme  but  life  at  Kalgan,  at  Good  Will,  at  Santee  and  at 
Sully !  Did  they  look  forward  to  what  they  would  do  after  the 
family  meeting  was  over?  The  larger  part  were  to  go  two  hun- 
dred miles  and  more  overland,  to  attend  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Indian  churches  at  Brown  Earth.  And  besides,  how  to  reach 
out  from  their  present  stations  and  seize  new  points  for  work  was 
the  constant  theme  of  thought. 

Wednesday  evening  there  was  a  gathering  ot  the  older  ones 
and  the  larger  children.  The  father  read  a  sketch  recalling  a  few 
incidents  of  the  family  life.  The  reading  brought  now  laughter 
and  then  tears.  Forty-two  years  could  not  come  and  go  without 
leaving  many  a  sorrow  behind. 

The  mother  who  had  lived  her  brave  life  for  a  third  of  a  cen- 
tury among  the  Indians,  was  not  there.  A  beautiful  crayon  por- 
trait, hung  that  day  for  the  first  time  over  the  piano,  was  a  sadly 
sweet  reminder  of  her  whose  body  was  laid  to  rest  only  a  year 
ago  among  the  Teetons,  on  the  banks  of  the  Upper  Missouri. 
Then  another  paper  of  memories  from  one  of  the  daughters, 
lighted  with  joy  and  shaded  with  sorrow,  a  few  words  of  cheer 
and  counsel  from  the  oldest  son,  and  a  talk  in  Chinese  from  the 
Celestial  member,  were  the  formal  features  of  theevening. 

As  I  sat  in  the  corner  of  the  study  and  heard  and  saw,  there 
came  to  me,  clearer  than  ever  before,  the  wonderful  power  there 
is  in  a  consecrated  life.  Well  did  one  of  them  say  that  if  they 
had  gained  any  success  in  their  work,  it  was  by  singleness  of 
purpose.  "  This  one  thing  I  do  "  could  well  be  the  family  motto. 
They  have  not  been  assigned  to  a  prominent  place  in  the  work  of 
the  world,  but  rather  to  the  most  hidden  and  hopeless  part.  But 
by  their  persistence  of  purpose,  they  have  done  much  to  lift  up 
and  make  popular,  in  a  good  sense,  missionary  work  in  general, 
and  particularly  work  for  the  Indians.  It  is  a  record  that  will 
shine  brighter  and  brighter  through  the  ages.  Eight  children 
and  thirteen  grandchildren  born  on  missionary  ground;  and  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  years  of  missionary  work. 

But  the  end  is  not  yet.  They  have  just  begun  to  get  their 
implements  into  working  order.  " Their  training  schools  are  just 
beginning  to  bear  fruit.  Most  fittingly,  a  few  days  before  the 

fathering  began,  came  a  large  invoice  of  the  entire  Bible  in  Da- 
ota,  the  joint  work  of  Dr.  Riggs  and  his  beloved  friend  and 
fellow-worker,  Dr.  Williamson,  who  has  just  gone  home  to  his 
rest.    At  the  same  time  came  the  final  proof-sheets  of  a  goodly- 


374  THE   FAMILY    REUNION. 

sized  4iymn  and  tune  book  for  the  Dakotas,  mainly  the  work  of 
the  eldest  sons  of  the  two  translators  of  the  Bible.  The  harvest 
that  has  been  is  nothing  to  the  harvest  that  is  to  be.  Dr.  Riggs 
may  reasonably  hope  to  see  more  stations  occupied,  more  books 
made,  more  churches  organized  in  the  future  than  he  has  seen  in 
the  past.  When  the  final  record  is  made  he  will  have  the  title  to 
a  great  rejoicing  that  he  and  his  family  were  permitted  by  the 
Master  to  do  so  much  to  make  a  sinful  world  loyal  again  to  its 
rightful  Lord. 

MARTHA'S  PAPER,  which  was  read  on  that  occasion,  is  a  very 
touching  description  of  a  missionary  journey  made  under  diffi- 
culties, six  years  before,  from  Sisseton  to  Yankton  Agency. 

GOING    TO    MISSION   MEETING. 

As  I  sit  on  the  doorsteps  in  the  twilight,  the  little  ones  asleep 
in  their  beds,  I  hear  a  solitary  attendant  on  the  choir-meeting 
singing.    His  voice  rings  out  clearly  on  the  night  air— 
''Jesus  Christ  nitowashte  kin 

Woptecashni  mayaqu  " — 
singing  ittathe  tune  Watchman. 

That  tune  has  a  peculiar  fascination  and  association  for  me, 
and  my  thoughts  often  go  back  over  the  time  when  I  first  heard  it. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  roses — in  the  year  seventy-three,  that, 
in  company  with  some  of  the  Kenvilles  and  others  I  undertook 
a  land  journey  to  the  Missouri.  I  had  with  me  the  lad  Harry, 
then  five  years  old,  and  a  sunny-haired  boy  of  nearly  a  year,  little 
Philip  Alfred.  He  never  knew  his  name  here.  Does  he  know 
it  now  ?  Or  has  he  another,  an  "  angel  name  "  ? 

The  rains  had  been  abundant,  and  the  roads  were  neither 
very  good  nor  very  well  traveled.  So,  some  unnecessary  time  was 
spent  in  winding  about  among  marshes,  and  we  niade  slow  prog- 
ress. More  than  once  we  came  to  a  creek  or  a  slough  where 
the  water  came  into  the  wagons.  The  Indian  women  shouldered 
their  babies  and  bundles  as  well,  and  trudged  through,  with  the 
exception  of  Ellen  Phelps  and  Mrs.  Elias  Gilbert,  Their  hus- 
bands were  so  much  of  white  men  as  to  shoulder  their  wives, 
and  carry  them  across.  Being  myself  a  privileged  person,  I  was 
permitted  to  ride  over,  first  mounting  the  seat  to  the  wagon,  hold- 
ing on  for  dear  life  to  the  wagon  bows  with  one  hand,  and  to  the 
sunny-haired  boy  with  the  other. 

By  the  end  of  the  week  we  had  only  reached  the  Big  Sioux, 
which  we  found  up  and  booming.  I  was  crossed  over  in  a  canoe 
with  my  two  children,  the  stout  arms  of  two  InJian  women  pad- 
dling me  over.  Then  we  climbed  up  the  bank,  and  waited  for 
the  wagons  to  come  around  by  some  more  fordable  place  down 
below.  While  waiting,  I  talked  awhile  with  Mrs  Wind,  who  had 
been  a  neighbor  of  ours  on  the  Coteau.  Her  lawful  husband,  a 
man  of  strong  and  ungoveraed  passions,  had  grown  tired  of  her 


A    MONOGRAPH.  375 

and  taken  another  woman.  So  Mrs.  Wind,  who  had  borne  with 
his  overbearing  and  his  occasional  beatings,  quietly  left  him. 
This  was  an  indignity  her  proud  spirit  could  not  brook.  She 
went  to  the  River  Bend  Settlement  to  live  with  her  son,  and  there 
I  saw  her.  I  said  to  her,  "Shall  you  20  back  to  the  hill  country  ?'< 
"  No,"  she  said,  "the  man  has  taken  another  wife,  and  I  shall  not 
go."  I  have  since  heard  of  her  from  time  to  time,  and  she  still 
remains  faithful. 

The  Sabbath  over,  we  went  on  again  reinforced  by  the  delega- 
tion from  Flandreau.  Reaching  Sioux  Falls  in  the  afternoon, 
we  avoided  the  town,  and  went  on  to  a  point  where  some  one 
thought  the  river  might  be  fordable.  But  alas !  we  found  we  had 
been  indulging  in  vain  expectations.  The  river  was  not  forda- 
ble, and  canoe  or  ferry  boat  there  was  ncne.  But  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention.  The  largest  and  strongest  wagon  box  was 
selected,  the  best  wagon  cover  laid  on  the  ground,  the  boat  lifted 
iu,  and  with  the  aid  of  various  ropes,  an  impromptu  boat  was 
made  ready.  Long  ropes  were  tied  securely  to  either  end,  poles 
laid  across  the  box  to  keep  things  out  of  the  water,  and  then  the 
boat  was  launched.  The  men  piled  in  the  various  possessions  of 
different  ones  and  as  many  women  and  children  as  they  thought 
safe.  Then  four  of  the  best  swimmers  took  the  ropes  and  swam 
up  the  river  for  quite  a  distance,  coming  down  with  the  current, 
and  so  gaining  the  other  shore.  This  occupied  some  time,  and 
was  repeated  slowly  until  night  came  on,  finding  the  company 
partly  on  one  side,  and  partly  on  the  other.  The  wagon  in  which 
we  had  made  our  bed  o'nights,  not  being  in  a  condition  for  sleep- 
ing in,  as  the  box  lay  by  the  river  side  all  water  soaked,  Edwin 
Phelps,  and  Ellen  his  wife,  kindly  vacated  theirs  for  our  benefit, 
themselves  sleeping  on  the  ground.  When  the  early  morning 
came,  the  camp  was  soon  astir,  and  breakfast  being  hastily  dis- 
patched, the  work  of  crossing  over  was  renewed.  I  watched  them 
drive  over  the  horses ;  the  poor  animals  were  very  loth  to  make  a 
plunge,  and  some  of  them  turned  and  ran  back  on  the  prairie 
more  than  once  before  they  were  finally  forced  into  the  water. 
When  most  of  the  others  were  over  it  came  my  turn  to  cross. 
The  so-called  boat  looked  rather  shaky,  but  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  to  get  in  and  take  one's  chance.  So  I  climbed  in,  keeping 
as  well  as  I  could  out  of  the  water,  which  seemed  to  nearly  fill 
the  wagon-box.  Some  one  handed  the  two  children  in,  and  hold- 
ing tightly  to  them,  I  resigned  myself  to  the  passage.  At  one 
time  I  heard  a  great  outcry,  but  could  not  distinguish  any  words, 
and  so  sat  still,  unconscious  that  one  of  the  ropes  had  broken, 
rendering  the  boat  more  unsafe  still.  At  last  I  was  safely  over, 
thankful  enough.  When  finally  everything,  and  everybody  was 
across,  and  the  boat  restored  to  its  proper  place,  we  started  on  our 
way  at  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  To  make  up  for  the 
late  starting,  the  teams  were  driven  hard  and  long,  and  the  twi- 
light had  already  gathered  when  we  stopped  for  the  night.  After 


376  THE    FAMILY    REUNION.   . 

I  had  given  my  children  a  simple  supper,  and  they  were  hushed 
to  sleep,  I  looked  out  on  the  picturesque  scene.  The  great  red 
moon  was  rising  in  the  sky,  and  in  its  light  the  travelers  had 
gathered  around  the  camp  fire  for  their  evening  devotions.  As  I 
walked  across  to  join  them  they  were  singing 
"Jesus  Christ  nitowashte  kin 

Woptecashni  rnayaqu — 
Jesus  Christ,  Thy  loving  kindness 
.    Boundlessly  Thou  givest  me:'1'1 

to  the  tune  Watchman.  It  struck  my  fancy,  and  I  seldom  hear  it 
now  without  thinking  of  that  night,  and  of  the  sunny-haired  boy 
who  was  then  taking  his  last  earthly  journey,  and  who  has  all 
these  years  been  learning  of  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  all  its  wonderful  fullness.  An  incident  of  one  day's 
travel  remains  clear  in  my  mind.  The  lad  Harry  often  grew 
tired  and  restless  as  was  not  strange,  and  so  sometimes  he  was 
somewhat  careless  too.  In  an  unguarded  moment,  he  fell  out 
and  one  of  the  hind  wheels  passed  over  his  body.  How  I  held 
iny  breath  until  the  horses  could  be  stopped  and  the  boy  reached. 
It  seemei  a  great  marvel  that  he  had  received  no  injury.  It  was 
surely  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  that  had  kept  him  from  harm. 

On  Wednesday  we  came  into  Yankton,  where  I  bought  a 
quantity  of  beef,  wishing  to  show  my  appreciation  of  the  labors 
of  the  men  in  our  behalf.  So  when  camp  was  made  at  night,  the 
women  had  it  to  make  into  srmp,  and  almost  before  it  seemed 
that  the  water  could  have  fairly  boiled,  all  hands  were  called  to 
eat  of  it,  and  it  was  despatched  with  great  celerity. 

The  next  afternoon  a  fierce  storm  broke  over  us,  and  we  were 
compelled  to  stop  for  an  hour  or  more,  while  the  rain  poured 
down  in  torrents,  and  the  heavens  were  one  continual  flame  of 
light.  When  again  we  "started  on,  every  hole  by  the  road-side  had 
become  a  pool,  and  the  water  was  rushing  through  every  low 
place  in  streams.  The  rain  retarded  our  progress  greatly,  yet  we 
came  in  sight  of  the  Yankton  Agency  before  noon  of  the  next 
day.  Just  as  we  reached  it  we  found  a  little  creak  to  cross,  where 
a  bridge  had  been  washed  away  the  night  before.  The  banks 
were  almost  perpendicular,  and  we  held  our  breath  asM'e  watched 
one  team  after  another  go  down  and  come  up,  feeling  sure  that 
some  of  the  horses  would  go  down  and  not  come  up  again.  But 
to  our  great  relief,  all  went  safely  over.  And  very  soon  we  had 
arrived  at  the  Mission  House  occupied  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Williamson 
and  family,  and  were  receiving  the  kindly  welcomes  of  all.  The 
hospitality  there  enjoyed  was  such  as  to  make  us  almost  forget 
our  tedious  journey  thitherward. 

From  my  traveling  companions  I  had  received  all  possible 
kindness,  yet  in  many  ways  I  had  found  the  journey  quite  try- 
ing. It  was  not  practicable 'to  vary  one's  diet  very  much  with 
the  care  of  the  little  one,  just  large 'enough  to  get  into  all  mis. 


A   MONOGKAPH.  377 

chief  imaginable.  So  I  remembered  with  especial  gratitude 
Edwin  and  Ellen  Phelps,  who  used  now  and  then,  at  our  stopping 
places,  to  borrow  the  boy,  so  helping  me  to  get  a  little  rest,  or  to 
do  some  necessary  work  which  would  otherwise  have  been  im- 
possible. At  that  time  Edwin  and  his  wife  had  no  children,  and 
their  eyes  often  followed  my  boy  with  yearning  looks.  Since 
then  the  Lord  has  given  them  little  ones  to  train  up  for  his  king- 
dom, and  they  are  happy. 

But  of  that  little  sunny-haired  baby  boy,  we  have  naught  but 
a  memory  left — and  this  consolation, 

"  Christ  the  good  Shepherd  carries  my  lamb  to-night, 

And  that  is  best.'"1 
And  this— 
"  Mine  entered  spotless  on  eternal  years, 

Oh  how  much  blest!'1'1 

During  the  meeting  the  tastes  and  needs  of  the  children  were 
not  forgotten,  but  AUNT  ANNA  held  them  attent  to  her 

MEMORIES  OF  THE  OLD   HOME   LIFE  WRITTEN   FOR   THE 
GRANDCHILDREN. 

Shut  your  eyes,  and  see  with  me  the  home  place  at  Lac-qui-- 
parle — a  square  house  with  a  flat  roof,  a  broad  stone  step  before 
the  wide  open  door— cheery  and  sunshiny  within.  Welcome  to 
grandfather's  home ! 

To  the  right,  in  the  distance,  is  the  lake  Mdeiyedan,  where, 
like  a  tired  child,  the  sun  dropped  his  head  to  rest  each  night. 
Between  us  and  the  lake  was  a  wooded  ravine,  at  the  foot  of 
which,  down  that  little  by-path,  was  the  coolest  of  springs,  with 
wild  touch-me-nots  nodding  above  it,  and  a  little  further  on,  a 
large  boulder  on  which  we  used  to  plajr. 

It  seems  to  us  as  if  we  had  but  just  come  in  from  a  long  sum- 
mer's walk,  with  our  hands  full  of  flowers,  and  each  and  every 
one  must  have  a  bouquet  to  set  in  his  or  her  favorite  window. 
The  wind  blowing  softly  brings  with  it  a  breath  of  sweet  cleavers, 
and —  well  I  must  tell  you  what  I  remember. 

I  cannot  stop  to  teil  you  of  all  the  little  things  that  made 
our  home  pleasant  and  lovely  in  our  eyes ;  or  of  the  dear  mother 
who  had  it  in  her  keeping,  for  I  know  all  the  grandchildren  are 
waiting  for  their  stories. 

Well,  I  will  begin  by  telling  the  wee  cousins  about  the  family 
cat,  Nelly  Bly,  and  one  of  her  kittens,  Charlotte  Corday.  Kit- 
tens have  some  such  cunning  ways,  you  know,  but  Nelly  Bly  was 
one  of  the  knowingest  and  best.  She  acd  her  kitten  were  as 
much  alike  as  two  peas  in  a  pod— jet  black,  and  with  beautiful 
yellow-green  eyes.  Nelly  Bly  used  to  curl  herself  up  to  sleep  in 
grandpa's  fur  cap,  or  sometimes  in  grandma's  work-basket ;  and 
if  she  could  do  neither  she  would  find  a  friendly  lap.  One  day 


378  THE    FAMILY    REUNION. 

poor  pussy  chose  much  too  warm  a  place.  Grandma  had  started 
up  the  kitchen  fire  and  was  making  preparations  for  dinner  when 
she  heard  pussy  mewing  piteously,  as  she  thought,  in  some  other 
room.  She  went  to  the  doors  one  by  one  to  let  pussy  in,  and  no 
pussy  appeared,  but  still  she  heard  her  mewing  as  if"  in  pain. 
What  could  grandma  do  ?  She  was  neither  down  cellar  nor  up 
stairs.  She  would  look  out  of  doors — but  no— jnst  then  pussy 
screamed  in  an  agony  of  pain.  Grandma  ran  to  the  stove,  opened 
the  door,  and  pussy,  as  if  shot  out  from  a  cannon's  mouth,  came 
flying  past  us — her  back  singed  and  her  poor  little  paws  all 
burned.  I  can't  tell  whether  she  learned  the  moral  of  that  lesson 
or  not,  but  I  know  she  never  was  shut  up  in  the  oven  again. 

Yet  not  so  very  long  afte  r,  when  the  old  house  was  burned, 
Nelly  Ely  and  Charlotte  Corday  found  a  sadder  fate.  Poor  little 
kittens ! — we  spent  hour  after  hour  searching  for  their  bones  but 
with  small  success,  and  then  we  buried  them  with  choking  sobs 
and  eyes  wet  with  childish  tears. 

Do  not  let  me  forget  to  tell  you  of  Pembina  and  Flora,  nor  of 
the  starry  host  that  bedecked  our  barnyard  sky — every  calf  how- 
ever humble  was  worthy  of  a  name.  There  were  our  oxen,  Dick 
and  Darby,  George  and  Jolly,  and  Leo  and  Scorpio,  who  u*ed  to 
weave  along  with  stately  swinging  tread  under  their  burden  of 
hay.  Then  Spika  and  Denebola,  Luna  and  Lyra— all  worthy  of 
honorable  mention.  Flora,  gentle,  but  with  an  eye  that  terrified 
the  little  maid  who  sometimes  milked  her, — so  with  wise  fore- 
thought, a  handful  of  salt  was  sometimes  thrown  into  the  bottom 
of  hfr  pail.  You  will  hardly  believe  it,  but  she  grew  to  be  so 
fond  of  her  pail  that  she  found  her  way  into  the  winter  kitchen 
and  anticipated  her  evening  meal.  How  she  ever  got  through 
two  gates  and  two  doors  is  a  mystery  still. 

And  there  was  Pembina — how  well  we  remember  the  day 
when  grandpa  brought  home  a  new  cow,  and  how  we  all  went 
down  to  meet  him  and  named  her  and  her  calf,  Little  Dorrit,  on 
the  spot.  She  was  the  children's  cow  par  excellence,  and  blessings 
on  her,  we  could  all  milk  at  a  time.  She  had  several  bad  habits, 
one  of  which  was  eating  old  clothes  and  paper,  or  rubbish  gen- 
erally. Once  I  remember  she  made  a  vain  attemot  at  swallowing 
a  beet,  and  if  grandpa  had  not  come  in  the  nick  of  time  to  beat 
her  on  the  back  she  would  have  been  dead  beat. 

Our  horses,  too,  were  a  part  of  the  family.  There  were  Polly 
and  Phenie,  short  for  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  Josephine — Fanny 
and  Tattycoram  (we  had  been  reading  Dickens  then). 

I  remember  hearing  our  own  mother  tell  of  the  ox  they  had 
when  they  lived  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  their  only  beast  of  burden, 
and  how  he  used  to  stand  and  lick  the  window  panes,  and  how 
when  the  Indians  shot  him  she  felt  as  if  she  had  lost  a  friend  and 
companion. 

If  these  stories  of  our  dear  animal  friends  grow  too  tiresome 
I  might  remember  about  the  Squill  family  at  Hazel  wood— how 


A    MONOGRAPH.  379 

they  all,  including  Timothy  and  Theophilus,  contributed  some- 
thing every  week  to  a  family  paper.  I  wonder  if  Theophilus 

remembers  writing  an  essay  for with  red  ink  from  his  arm 

and  how  Isabella  said,  "Now  be  brave,  Martha,  be  brave!  '. 

when  she  was  letting  herself  down  from  the  topmost  round  of  the 
ladder — and  how  Isabella  when  beheading  the  Pope  in  her  fanat- 
ical zeal,  split  her  forefinger  with  a  chisel. 

These  are  a  very  few  only  of  the  rememberings— some  of 
them  are  too  sacred  and  too  dear  to  speak  about — but  even  these 
little  incidents  seem  endeared  by  the  long  stretch  of  years. 

Some  memories  of  former  days  were  revived  for  the  older  chil- 
dren, and  imparted  to  the  younger  ones,  by  the  FATHER'S  PAPER  : 

I   REMEMBER. 


As  one  grows  old  memory  is,  in  some  sense,  unreliable.  It 
does  not  catch  and  hold  as  it  once  did.  But  many  things  of  long 
ago  are  the  things  best  remembered.  Often  there  is  error  in  re- 
gard to  dates.  The  mind  sees  the  things  or  the  events  vividly, 
but  the  surroundings  are  dim  and  uncertain.  What  is  aimed  at 
in  this  paper  is  to  gather  up,  or  rather  select,  some  events  lying 
along  the  family  line  and  touching  personal  character. 

The  family  commences  with  the  mother.  I  remember  well  my 
first  visit  to  Bethlehem,  Indiana,  where  I  first  met  Mary,  with 
whom  I  had  been  corresponding,  having  had  an  introduction 
through  Rev.  Dyer  Burgess.  That  was  in  the  spring.  My  sec- 
ond visit  to  the  same  place  was  in  the  autumn  of  1836,  when  the 
school-mistress  and  I  went  on  to  New  England  together. 

FIRST  VISIT   TO   MASSACHUSETTS. 

Of  that  journey  eastward,  and  the  winter  spent  in  Hawley,  I 
should  naturally  remember  a  good  many  things :  How  when 
the  stage  from  Albany  and  Troy  put  us  down  in  Charlemont,  we 
hired  a  boy  with  a  one-horse  wagon  to  carry  us  six  miles  to  Haw- 
ley.  But  when  we  came  to  going  up  the  steep,  rough,  long  hill 
such  as  I  had  never  climbed  before,  the  horse  could  only  scramble 
up  with  the  baggage  alone.  How  we  reached  the  Longley  home- 
stead in  a  real  November  storm  only  a  few  days  before  Thanks- 
giving, and  were  greeted  by  the  grandparents  ninety  years  old, 
and  by  the  father  and  mother  and  brothers  and  sister — all  of 
whom,  except  Moses,  have  since  gone  to  the  other  side.  How 


380  THE    FAMILY    REUNION. 

only  a  day  after  our  arrival  I  was  waited  upon  by  a  committee 
of  the  West  Hawley  church,  and  engaged  to  preach  for  them 
during  the  winter.  How  every  Saturday  I  walked  down  to  Pud- 
ding Hollow  and  preached  on  Sabbath  and  usually  walked  up  on 
Monday,  when  I  did  not  get  snowed  in.  How  the  first  pair  of 
boots  I  ever  owned,  bought  in  Ohio,  proved  to  be  too  small  to 
wade  in  snow  with,  and  had  to  be  abandoned.  How  the  old 
family  horse  had  a  knack  of  turning  us  over  into  snow-drifts. 
How  on  our  first  visit  to  Buck  land,  the  grandfather  Taylor,  then 
about  ninety-five  years  old,  when  he  was  introduced  to  Mary 
Ann's  future  husband,  a  young  minister  from  the  West,  asked, 
'"  Did  you  ever  think  what  a  good  horseman  Jesus  Christ  was  ? 
Why  he  rode  upon  a  colt  that  had  never  been  broke."  How  the  old 
meeting-house  on  the  hill,  with  its  square  pews  and  high  pulpit- 
creaked  and  groaned  in  the  storm  of  our  wedding  day,  Feb.  16, 
1837.  How  we  left  in  the  first  days  of  March,  when  the  snow- 
drifts on  the  hills  were  still  fifteen  feet  deep. 

March,  April,  May  passed,  and  the  first  day  of  June  we  landed 
at  Fort  Snelling  in  the  land  of  the  Dakotas. 

When  another  three  moons  were  passed  by,  and  we  had  seen 
St.  Anthony  and  Minnehaha,  and  made  some  acquaintance  with 
the  natives,  I  remember  we  took  passage,  with  our  effects  on 
board  a  Mackinaw  boat  for  Traverse  des  Sioux.  The  boat  was  in 
command  of  Mr.  Prescott,  who  accommodated  us  with  tent  room 
on  the  journey,  and  made  the  week  pass  comfortably  for  us. 
From  Traverse  des  Sioux  to  Lac-qui-parle  we  had  our  first  experi- 
ence of  prairie  traveling  and  camping.  It  was  decidedly  a  new 
experience.  But  we  had  the  company  of  Dr.  Williamson  and 
Mr.  G.  H.  Pond,  while  we  commenced  to  learn  the  lesson. 

AT  LAC-QUI-PARLE. 

The  long,  narrow  room,  partly  under  the  roof  of  Dr.  William- 
son's log  house,  which  became  our  home  for  nearly  five  years  from 
that  September,  is  one  of  the  memories  that  does  not  fade. 

On  the  6th  of  December  I  remember  coming  home  from  Mr- 
Renville's  where  we  had  been  all  the  afternoon  obtaining  trans- 
lations. Then  there  was  hurrying  to  and  fro,  and  the  first  baby 
came  into  our  family  of  two.  From  that  time  on  we  were 
three,  and  the  little  Zitkadanwashta,  as  the  Indians  named  him, 


.     A    MONOGRAPH.  381 

grew  as  other  children  grow,  and  did  what  most  children  don't 
do — viz.,  learn  to  go  down  stairs  before  he  did  up,  because;  we 
lived  up  stairs,  and  all  children  can  manage  to  go  away  from 
home,  when  they  can't  or  won't  come  back  of  themselves. 

In  those  years  our  annual  allowance  from  the  treasury  of  the 
Board  was  $250.  This  was  more  than  the  other  families  in  the 
mission  had  proportionally.  But  it  required  considerable  econ- 
omy and  great  care  in  expenditure  to  make  the  ends  meet.  Not 
knowing  the  price  of  quinine,  and  thinking  four  ounces  could 
not  be  a  great  amount,  we  were  much  surprised  to  find  the  bill 
$16.  But  Dr.  Turner,  of  Fort  Snelling,  kindly  took  it  oft'  our 
hands. 

Once  we  were  discussing  the  question  of  how  much  additional 
expense  the  baby  would  be,  when  I  said,  "About  two  dollars.'' 
Thereafter  Mr.  S.  W.  Pond,  who  was  present  at  the  time,  called 
the  boy  "  Mazaska  nonpa." 

A   PLEASANT   TRIP. 

HfCWl 

In  the  second  month  of  1840,  our  three  became  four.  And  when 
the  leaves  came  out  and  the  flowers  began  to  appear,  the  mother 
had  a  great  desire  to  go  somewhere.  But  the  only  place  to  go 
was  to  Fort  Snelling.  And  so,  leaving  Chaskay  and  taking  Hapant 
we  crossed  the  prairie  to  the  Traverse  des  Sioux,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Renville's  caravan.  The  expectation  was  that  the  Fur  Com. 
pany's  boat  would  be  there.  But  it  was  not;  nor  even  a  canoe, 
save  a  little  leaky  one,  which  barely  aided  us  in  crossing  the  St. 
Peters.  The  journey  through  the  Big  Woods  was  over  logs  and 
through  swamps  and  streams  for  seventy-five  miles.  We  had  two 
horses  but  no  saddle.  Oar  tent  and  bedding  and  such  things  as 
we  must  have  on  the  journey  were  strapped  on  the  horses.  The 
mother  rode  one,  not  very  comfortable  as  may  be  supposed, 
but  the  baby  girl  had  a  better  ride  on  a  Dakota  woman's  back. 
At  the  end  of  ten  miles  "  La  grand  canoe  "  was  found,  in  which 
they  took  passage.  That  ten  miles  was  destined  to  be  remem- 
bered  by  our  return  also ;  for  there,  where  the  town  of  Le  Sueur 
now  stands,  our  bark  canoe  finally  failed  us,  and  without  an  In- 
dian woman  to  carry  the  baby,  we  walked  up  to  the  Traverse, 
through  the  wet  grass.  All  together  that  was  a  trip  to  be  rernem 
bered. 


382  THE    FAMILY    REUNION. 

One  other  thing  comes  to  my  mind  about  our  first  "  little  lady." 
There  was  only  one  window  in  our  up-stairs  room.  On  the  out- 
side of  that  the  mother  had  a  shelf  fixed  to  set  out  milk  on.  One 
morning  when  every  one  was  busy  or  out,  the  little  girl,  not  two 
years  old,  climbed  out  of  the  window  and  perched  herself  on  that 
shelf.  It  gave  us  a  good  scare. 

JOURNEY  TO   NEW   ENGLAND. 

Inthe  first  month  of  1842,  our  family  of  four  was  increased  to 
five.  And  when  the  summer  came  on  we  took  a  longer  journey, 
which  extended  to  New  England.  This  time  Hapan  was  left  be- 
hind and  Hapistinna  and  Chaskay  were  the  companions  of  our 
voyage.  The  grandmother  in  Hawley  saw  and  blessed  her  grand- 
child namesake  Martha  Taylor.  "  Good  Bird  "  says  he  remem- 
bers picking  strawberries  in  the  Hawley  meadow,  where  his 
Uncle  Alfred  was  mowing,  in  those  summer  mornings. 

NEW   STATION  AT   TRAVERSE   DES   SIOUX. 

A  whole  year  passed,  and  we  came  back  to  the  land  of  the  Da- 
kotas,  to  make  a  new  home  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  to  experience 
our  first  great  sorrow,  and  to  consecrate  our  Allon-bach-uth  for  the 
noble  brother,  Thomas  Lawrence  Longley.  That  was  a  garden 
of  roses  but  a  village  of  drinking  and  drunken  Sioux ;  and  more 
of  trial  came  into  our  life  of  a  little  more  than  three  years  spent 
there,  than  in  any  other  equal  portion.  There  our  Wanskay  was 
born,  and  started  in  life  under  difficulties.  Our  family  of  five  had 
now  become  six.  Provisions  of  a  good  quality  were  not  easily 
obtained.  But  it  happened  that  wild  rice  and  Indian  sugar  were 
abundant,  and  the  laws  of  heredity  visited  the  sins  of  the  parents 
on  our  third  little  lady  child.  But  with  all  the  disadvantages  of 
the  start,  the  little  "urchin"  grew,  and  grew,  like  the  others. 

SENT  BACK  TO   LAC-QUI-PARLE. 

Trouble  and  sorrow  baptize  and  consecrate.  The  many  trials 
attendant  upon  commencing  our  station  at  Traverse  des  Sioux  and 
the  oaks  of  weeping  there  had  greatly  endeared  the  place  to  the 
mother;  and  when,  in  September  of  1846,  the  mission  voted  that 
we  should  go  back  to  Lac-qui-parle,  she  could  not  see  that  it  was 
duty,  and  went  without  her  own  consent.  It  was  a  severe  trial.  In  a 
few  months  she  became  satisfied  that  the  Lord  had  led  us.  What 


A   MONOGRAPH.  383 

of  character  the  boy  Hcike,  who  was  born  in  the  next  June,  in- 
herited from  these  months  of  sadnes?,  I  know  not,  but  as  he  came 
along  up,  we  called  him  a  "  Noble  Boy."  Tiie  family  had  then 
reached  the  sacred  number  seven. 

In  the  year  that  followed  we  built  a  very  comfortable  frame 
house — indeed  two  of  them — one  for  Mr.  Jonas  Pettijohn's  family 
—comfortable,  except  that  the  snow  would  drift  in  through  the 
ash  shingles.  Some  of  the  older  children  can,  perhaps,  remem- 
ber times  when  there  was  more  snow  iiuide  than  outside  We 
were  up  on  the  hill,  and  not  under  it,  where  Dr.  Williamson  and 
Mr.  Huggins  had  built  a  dozen  years  before ;  and  consequently 
the  winter  winds  were  fiercer,  though  we  all  thought  the  summers 
were  pleasanter.  In  this  house  our  sixth  child  was  born  who  has 
no  Dakota  cognomen.  We  shall  call  him  Ixhakpe.  The  half 
dozen  years  in  which  we  made  that  house  our  home  were  full  of 
work,  broken  in  upon  by  a  year  spent  in  the  east — myself  in  New 
York  city  chiefly.  Henry,  who  could  say  to  enquirers,  "  I  was 
two  years  old  last  September,"  and  Isabella  weie  with  thtir 
mother  in  Massachusetts  and  Brooklyn — Martha  and  Auna  in 
the  capital  of  Minnesota,  and  Thomas  at  the  mission  station  of 
Kaposia;  Alfred,  I  believe,  was  at  Galesburg,  Illinois. 

EDUCATING   THE   CHILDREN. 

It  had  been  a  question  that  we  often  discussed,  How  shall  we 
get  our  children  educated?  The  basis  of  allowance  from  the 
Treasury  of  the  Board  had  been  on  the  principle  of  the  Metho- 
dist Circuit  Riders.  The  $250  with  which  we  commenced  was 
increased  $50  for  each  child.  So  that  at  this  time,  our  salary 
was  either  $500  or  $550.  It  was  never  greater  than  the  last  sum 
until  after  the  outbreak  in  1862.  We  lived  on  it  comfortably, 
but  there  was  very  little  margin  for  sending  children  away  to 
school.  And  now  we  were  reaching  that  point  in  our  family 
history  when  a  special  effort  must  be  made  in  that  direction. 
Before  we  went  on  East  in  1851,  the  mother  and  I  had  talked  the 
matter  over — perhaps  some  good  family  would  like  to  take  one 
of  the  children  to  educate.  And  so  it  was,  more  than  one  good 
offer  was  received  for  the  little  boy  Henry.  But  our  hearts  faile  1 
us.  Mrs.  Minerva  Cook,  of  Brooklyn,  said  to  me,  "You  are 
afraid  we  will  make  an  Ep'scopalian  of  him."  So  near  wat  he 
to  being  a  Bishop! 


384  THE    FAMILY    REUNION. 

MISSION   HOUSE   BURNED. 

Many  remembrances  have  to  be  passed  over.  The  last  picture 
I  have  of  those  mission  houses  at  Lac-qui-parle  is,  when,  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1854,  they  were  enveloped  in  fire.  The  two  little 
boys  had  been  down  cellar  to  get  potatoes  for  their  mother,  and 
holding  the  lighted  candle  too  near  to  the  dry  hay  underneath  the 
floor,  the  whole  was  soon  in  a  conflagration,  which  our  po6r 
efforts  could  not  stop.  The  houses  were  soon  a  heap  of  ashes, 
and  tbe  meat  and  many  of  the  potatoes  in  the  cellar  were  cooked. 
The  adobe  church  was  then  our  asylum,  and  the  family  home  for 
the  summer. 

BUILD  AT   HAZELWOOD. 

While  occupying  the  old  church  and  making  preparations  to 
rebuild,  Secretary  S.  B.  Treat  visited  us.  After  consultation,  our 
plans  were  changed,  and  we  erected  our  mission  buildings  at 
Hazelwood,  twenty-five  miles  further  down  the  Minnesota,  and 
near  to  Dr.  Williamson's  and  the  Yellow  Medicine  Agency. 
During  the  eight  years  spent  there  many  things  connected  with 
the  family  life  transpired.  First  among  them  worthy  to  be  noted 
was,  the  rounding  out  of  the  number  of  children  to  eight — "  Toon- 
kanshena,"  so  called  by  the  Indians— just  why  I  don't  know — 
and  Octavia  the  hakakta.  In  those  days  our  Family  Education 
Society  had  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  keep  one  always,  and 
sometimes  two  away  at  school.  By  and  by,  Zitkadan  washta 
graduated  at  Knox  College,  and  Hapan  and  Eapistinna  at  the 
Western  Female  Seminary  and  College  Hill  respectively.  How 
we  got  them  through  seems  even  now  a  mystery.  But  I  rernem 
ber  one  year  we  raised  a  grand  crop  of  potatoes,  and  sold  100 
barrels  to  the  government  for  $300  in  gold.  That  was  quite  a 
lift.  And  so  the  Lord  provided  all  through — then  and  afterward. 
Nothing  was  more  remarkable  in  our  family  history  for  twenty- 
five  years  than  its  general  health.  We  had  very  little  sickness. 
I  remember  a  week  or  so  of  doctoring  on  myself  during  our  first. 
residence  at  Lac-qui-parle.  Then  the  summer  after  our  return 
there,  the  fever  and  ague  took  hold  of  two  or  three  of  the  chil- 
dren. The  mother  also  was  taken  sick  suddenly  in  the  adobe 
church,  and  Dr.  Williamson  and  I  had  a  night  ride  up  from  Ha- 


A   MONOGRAPH.  385 

zelwood.  At  this  place  (Hazclwood)  the  baby  boy  Toonkanshena 
was  s'ck  one  night,  I  remember,  and  we  gave  h  in  calomel  and 
sent  for  the  doctor.  But  the  most  serious  sickness  of  all  these 
years  was  lhat  of  my  "  urchin"  and  Henry,  both  together  of  ty- 
phoid fever.  I  have  always  believed  that  prayer  was  a  part  of 
the  means  of  their  recovery. 

QUARTER  OF  A  CENTURY. 

When  the  summer  of  18G2  came  it  rounded  out  a  full  quarter 
of  a  century  of  missionary  life  for  us.  Alfred  had  completed  his 
seminary  course,  and  in  the  meantime  ha:l  grown  such  a  heavy 
black  beard,  that  when  he  and  I  sat  on  the  platform  together  in  a 
crowded  church  in  Cincinnati,  the  people  asked  which  was  the 
father  and  which  the  son. 

While  waiting  in  Ohio  for  the  graduating  day  of  Hapistinna, 
to  come,  I  ran  up  to  Steubenville,  where  I  was  born,  and  walked 
out  into  the  country  to  the  old  farm,  where  my  boyhood  was 
spent.  The  visit  was  not  very  satisfactory.  Scarcely  any  one 
knew  me.  Every  thing  had  greatly  changed. 

THE   OUTBREAK. 

The  memories  of  August  18,  1862,  and  the  days  lhat  followed 
are  vivid,  but  must  in  the  main  be  passed  over.  I  cannot  forbear 
however,  to  note  what  a  sorry  group  we  were  on  that  Island,  on 
the  morning  ol  the  nineteenth!  How  finally  the  way  appeared, 
and  we  filed  up  the  ravine  and  started  over  the  prairie  as  fugitives ! 
How  the  rain  came  on  us  that  afternoon,  and  what  a  sorry  camp- 
ing we  made  in  the  open  prairie  after  we  had  crossed  Hawk 
River!  How  the  little  Hakakta  girl,  when  bed  time  came, 
wanted  to  go  home!  How,  when  the  rain  had  leaked  clown 
through  the  wagon  bed  all  night  upon  them,  Mrs.  D.  Wilson 
Moore  thought  it  would  be  about  as  good  to  die  as  to  live  under 
such  conditions !  How  Hapistinna  and  Wanskay  wore  ofl'  their 
toes  walking  through  the  sharp  prairie  grass !  How  we  stopped 
on  the  open  prairie  to  kill  a  cow  and  bake  bread  and  roast  meat, 
with  no  pans  to  do  it  in !  And  how,  while  the  process  was  going 
on,  we  had  our  picture  taken!  How  many  scares  we  passed 
through  the  night  we  passed  around  Fort  Ridgley !  How,  thus, 


386  THE  FAMILY    REUNION. 

we  escaped,  like  a  bird  from  the  snare  of  the  fowler — the  snare 
was  broken  and  we  escaped!  How,  when  the  company  came  to 
adjust  their  mutual  obligations,  nobody  had  an}'  money  but  D. 
Wilson  Moore!  How  those  women  met  us  on  the  top  of  the  hilj 
by  Henderson  and  were  glad  to  see  us  because  we  had  white 
blood  in  us!  How  on  the  road  we  met  our  old  friend  Samuel  W. 
Pond,  who  welcomed  our  family  to  his  house  at  Shakopee ! 

FAMILY  IN   ST.    ANTHONY. 

The  memories  of  the  campaign  of  the  next  three  months  may 
be  passed  over,  as  having  little  connection  with  the  family.  But 
I  remember  the  night,  when,  with  more  than  three  hundred  con- 
demnations in  my  carpet  bag,  I  had  a  long  hunt  at  midnight  for 
the  little  hired  house  in  which  the  mother  and  children  had  re- 
commenced housekeeping.  The  three  years  in  St.  Anthony  were 
ones  of  varied  experiences.  Wanskay  had  gone  down  to  Rock- 
ford.  Hapan  and  Hapistinna  taught  school  and  kept  house  for 
the  mother  by  turns.  The  three  boys  went  to  school. 

The  war  of  the  Rebellion  was  not  over,  but  it  was  nearing  its 
end  as  we  soon  knew,  when  one  day  the  noble  boy  Thomas 
brought  in  a  paper  for  me  to  sign,  giving  my  permission  for  his 
enlistment.  I  had  heard  and  read  so  much  of  boys  of  sixteen 
going  almost  at  once  into  the  hospital,  that  I  threw  the  paper  in 
the  fire. 

WHAT   WILT   THOU   HAVE   MB   TO   DO? 

The  missionary  work  among  the  Dakotas  was  so  broken  up , 
the  clouds  hung  so  heavily  over  it,  that  I  very  seriously  enter- 
tained the  question  of  giving  up  my  commission  as  a  missionary 
of  the  American  Board,  and  turning  my  attention  to  work  among 
white  people.  In  my  correspondence  with  Secretary  Treat,  I  pro- 
posed a  kind  of  half-and-half  work,  but  that  was  not  approved. 
Finally  I  wrote  a  letter  of  withdrawal  and  sent  it  on  to  Boston. 
But  the  Prudential  Committee  were  slow  to  act  upon  it.  In  the 
meantime  Rev.  G.  H.  Pond  came  over  and  gave  me  a  long  talk. 
He  believed  I  should  do  no  such  thing — that  the  clouds  would 
soon  clear  away — that  the  need  of  work  such  as  I  could  give 
would  be  greater  than  ever  before.  And  so  it  was.  To  me  Mr. 


A    MONOGRAPH.  387 

Pond  was  a  prophet  of  the  Lord  sent  with  a  special  message.  I 
wanted  to  know  the  way.  And  the  voice  said,  "  This  is  the  way 
— walk  in  it."  With  new  enthusiasm  I  then  entered  upon  the 
work  of  meeting  the  increasing  demand  for  school  books  and  for 
the  Bible. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  year  1865,  having  completed  my 
three  months'  work  at  the  Bible  House  ia  New  York,  in  reading 
the  proof  of  the  entire  New  Testament  in  Dakota  and  other  parts 
of  the  Bible,  as  well  as  other  books,  I  returned  to  our  home  in 
St.  Anthony  to  find  the  mother  away  at  the  Water  Cure  establish- 
ment. We  remember  that  as  a  year  of  invalidism — of  sickness. 
But  the  skillful  physician  and  the  summer  sun  wrought  such  a 
cure  that  in  the  autumn  we  removed  to  Beloit.  Here,  with  com- 
parative health,  she  had  three  and  a  half  years  of  added  life. 

THE  MOTHER  CALLED  AWAY. 

Among  the  new  things  that  took  place  in  Beloit  in  the  year 
1866,  was  the  marriage  of  Hapan  and  Hapistinna,  the  one  starting 
off  for  the  far  oft  land  of  the  celestials — so  called — and  the  other 
to  the  frontier  of  Minnesota.  Wanskay  was  then  our  housekeeper 
and  the  three  boys  were  in  school.  By  and  by  the  time  came  for 
the  mother  to  be  called  away.  It  was  a  brief  sickness  and  she 
passed  from  us  into  the  Land  of  Immortal  Beauty.  It  was  a 
comfort  to  us  that  our  first  born — Zitkadan  Washta— was  residing 
near  by  that  winter  and  spring  of  1869.  As  I  remember  it,  three 
children  were  far  away  and  five  gathered  around  the  mother's 
grave.  Now,  looking  back  over  the  ten  years  passed  since  that 
time,  I  seem  to  say : 

"  My  thoughts,  like  palms  in  exile, 

Climb  up  to  look  and  pray 
For  a  glimpse  of  that  heavenly  country, 
That  seems  not  far  away." 

This  is  a  good  point  to  close  and  seal  up  the  Memories.  For  the 
rest  a  few  words  may  be  sufficient.  Manifestly,  as  a  family,  God 
has  been  with  us  all  the  way,  and  the  blessings  of  the  Lord  Je- 
hovah have  been  upon  us.  Forty  two  years  ago  we  went  out — 
two  alone — into  the  wilderness  of  prairie ;  and  now  we  have 
become  one,  two,  three,  four,  live,  six,  or  more  bands. 


388  THE    FAMILY    REUNION. 

Sabbath,  September  the  seventh,  wound  up  the  precious  weeks ; 
and  Sabbath  evening  was  the  transfiguration  of  the  whole.  May 
its  blessed  memories  tendeily  abide  in  all  our  hearts.  For  a  year 
or  more,  we  had  looked  forward  to  the  Family  Meeting  that  was 
to  be;  but  now  we  look  back  and  remember  with  growing  pleag- 
urc  the  meeting  that  was.  As  the  wagons  clattered  away  on 
Monday  morning,  they  broke  the  charmed  spell,  but  each  one 
went  their  own  way  richer  than  they  came.  A.  L.  R. 


THE  END. 


